PlayStation 5 games to be revealed on June 4th

Sony will finally reveal PlayStation 5 games on Thursday, June 4th.

The titles will feature in a presentation of just over an hour at 1pm Pacific Time, 4pm Eastern Time and 9pm UK time.

PlayStation says that the digital event will be the first in a series of updates, and that there will be more to share beyond next week's presentation. The Future of Gaming showcase will be streamed via Twitch and YouTube.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz today, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan spoke about the challenge he set his team to develop digital presentations that can generate the sort-of excitement you would expect from an E3 press conference.

"Obviously the shows, whether it's GDC, PAX, E3, Gamecom... they've all gone," he said. "We have to live in a world where that particular oxygen isn't available to the industry. It's not available to PlayStation or anybody else. We just have to come up with ways to communicate what we're doing, and try and engender the same level of adrenaline, excitement, buzz that we get with thousands of people in an auditorium in Los Angeles. And do that somehow remotely."

Research director of Ampere Analysis, Piers Harding-Rolls, says the June 4th presentation will be crucial in maintaining and building momentum for the next generation. But he isn't expecting to hear news about the console price just yet.

"I'm expecting Thursday's PlayStation 5 event to be a strong showing for Sony, and to build on the recent momentum of interest already delivered by the PS5 DualSense controller reveal, the PS5 logo reveal and the Unreal Engine 5 playable demo," he told us.

"I expect the viewership numbers to be sick"

Lewis Ward, IDC

"It will focus on areas where Sony is traditionally strong: product design, with what I assume will be the full reveal of the PS5, and its games development expertise. We're now well into the phase where console early adopters expect to know more about the games that will be available at launch, so this event and Microsoft's upcoming streams are crucial to build consumer anticipation. I'm expecting a more competitive line up of first-party content between Sony and Microsoft next-gen, so the next few weeks and months of reveals should have a lot to offer the console gamer and give us a better idea of how the platforms will perform in the market.

"One key aspect I'll be looking out for is confirmed exclusives for PS5. With Microsoft following a different commercial path, Sony's strategy to embrace exclusives for its next-gen console is a key differentiator. Concerning the hardware, I wouldn't be surprised if there was no pricing announcement, although we commonly get pricing at around this time, normally at E3, before a launch at the end of the year. The COVID-19 crisis and the economic situation means that choosing when to confirm the pricing is more of a challenge, and, in the current climate, it probably makes sense to wait longer before the reveal."

IDC's research director of gaming Lewis Ward added: "It's been a long time coming and I think next Thursday's reveal will basically be comparable to an E3 keynote, albeit a virtual event. Think an extended State of Play with much more interactivity and news broken.

"What I'm still not clear on is whether we'll actually see the final PS5 hardware. I'm sure we won't get pricing or preorder dates regardless since the focus will be on games as well as Sony's broader digital efforts as the company ramps for PS5's debut.

"I think Mr. Ryan and others will tastefully address the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss Sony's response to it, and I expect to see some of the projects underway by indie studios that have received Play At Home funding.

"I sure next week's showcase will leave many big questions unanswered regarding PS5 but it's also going to fill in some huge holes and I expect the viewership numbers to be sick."