Sony’s E3 2017 press conference offered a solid peek at some of the biggest PlayStation games of 2017 and 2018, but none of the most important ones got exact release dates. Despite being in the thick of development last year, PS4 exclusives like Days Gone and Detroit: Become Human did not share release info. God Of War is set to arrive in early 2018, while Spider-Man has simply been listed to debut sometime next year.
In an interview with Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller during E3, Sony Worldwide president Shuhei Yoshida spoke candidly on the subject of playing close to the vest with release details.
“Actually that was really intentional. Like Gran Turismo Sport coming fall 2017, God Of War coming early 2018... We have announced the release dates of many games that we've had to apologize and push back in the past, so we got together and discussed [it] seriously. PS4 games are so big, and very veteran teams making games for the last 10 years still miscalculate how much work is done at the very last part of development. We agreed to not announce a release date until we're very, very, very, very close to the release date.”
In terms of figuring out how close is very close, we’re anticipating that those details could be made clear as early as three months before arrival. After all, one of the only release dates Sony announced during all of E3 was related to Knack II. That game will be coming out Sept. 5. Assuming other first-party titles follow a similar trajectory, we should hear more about Gran Turismo Sport in July or August with a full release date reveal for God Of War at PSX in December.
Speaking of other games we might see at PSX this year, Yoshida also made some quiet comments about the upcoming title from InFAMOUS developer, Sucker Punch Productions. After Shuhei told the Kinda Funny crew that he had played a prototype of the game during E3 2015, he now reveals that he has “played it many, many more times” since.
“It’s a game. They are not making movies,” Yoshida joked.
There are quite a few other interesting tidbits for those who decide to watch the full 20-minute interview. As a part of the munch larger discussion, Yoshida also touched on key subjects like the Shadow Of The Colossus remake that’s being built from the ground up for PS4. He also indicated that Sony’s silence over its PSVR virtual reality headset has largely been dictated by the fact that the hardware maker simply can’t ship enough units to retail to warrant a significant marketing push. The headset was a focal area of the press conference, however, with multiple large-scale projects from Until Dwan’s Supermassive Games and a VR version of Skyrim.
Those hoping for more big reveals from Sony will likely get some during PlayStation Experience 2017. The event is set to take place Dec. 9-10 in Anaheim.
What did you you think of Sony’s E3 press conference? Were you expecting more release dates than you got? Tell us in the comments section!
