State of Play returned on May 30, 2024, showcasing 14 titles for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2. The broadcast provided our first in-depth look at Firewalk Studios’ upcoming Concord and gameplay footage of the highly anticipated Monster Hunter Wilds. There were debuts including Dynasty Warriors: Origins, Infinity Nikki, Where Winds Meet, and Ballad of Antara. The show ended with an announcement for Astro Bot, as PlayStation’s new mascot gets its own full title following the success of Astro’s Playroom. Get a complete breakdown of everything that appeared at May 2024’s State of Play below.
Concord
We are starting to see the real impact of Overwatch’s initial success and its influence on games. Today, Firewalk Studios gave a first look at the gameplay, universe, and characters of Concord, and it’s easy to see Overwatch’s influence. Concord is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and PC on August 23, 2024, and is a 5v5 character-driven, first-person multiplayer shooter set in the Concord galaxy. The trailer gives off a bit of a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, as Firewalk Studios said it’s a love letter to aspirational sci-fi adventure, inspired by their favorite art, anime, films, and TV series.
Players are members of the Northstar, a group of guns-for-hire known in the galaxy as Freegunners. Across matches, players will form teams of Freegunners to battle it out with rival crews in hopes of taking home the reward across a variety of maps and modes. At launch, Concord will have 16 Freegunners to choose from, with the goal of growing through regular, free post-launch updates. Look for preorders to launch next week, which will also offer access to a beta later this summer.
God of War Ragnarök Heading to PC
Another PlayStation first-party title is heading to PC with the launch of God of War Ragnarök on September 19, 2024. The port is being handled by Jetpack Interactive, the same development partner that worked on God of War (2018) on PC. The PC version will offer unlocked framerates, support for NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, super ultra-widescreen support (21:9 and 32:9), and will include the wonderful Valhalla DLC. God of War Ragnarök is available for preorder on Steam and the Epic Games Store in standard and digital deluxe editions. Those who preorder the game will receive the Kratos Risen Snow Armor and the Atreus Risen Snow Tunic. System requirements will be announced closer to the release date.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
A new Dynasty Warriors game has been announced for the franchise, which is now 27 years old. Dynasty Warriors: Origins aims to refine the 1 vs. 1,000 action genre and promises to deliver the largest armies the series has ever seen. he game is in development by Omega Force, and for the first time in Dynasty Warriors franchise history, the chaos of the Three Kingdoms will be presented through the eyes of “a nameless hero.” Look for more information in the coming months, as Dynasty Warriors: Origins isn’t set to release until 2025.
Infinity Nikki
If you’ve been waiting for an open-world dress-up adventure, Infinity Nikki is calling out to you. he Nikki series is a collection of dress-up games that has evolved over the last 12 years, and Infinity Nikki is the fifth installment in the franchise. It’s also the most ambitious, as developer Infold Games has created Miraland, an open world that Nikki explores by using the special abilities of different outfits. The trailer showcased some of these outfits, including a floating outfit, purification outfit, gliding outfit, and a shrinking outfit. A PlayStation 5 beta for Infinity Nikki is expected later this year.
Ballad of Antara
The worldwide success of FromSoftware’s games, from Demon’s Souls to Elden Ring, has resulted in many studios putting their own spin on the genre. The latest is Ballad of Antara, a new IP that will be free to play. While it appears to be heavily inspired by Elden Ring, its description suggests it will play more like Genshin Impact. The game is described as an action RPG with multiple playable characters called Emissaries. Each Emissary has a unique class, gameplay capabilities, and their own mysterious stories. Along with a single-player narrative, Ballad of Antara offers multiplayer support for up to three players. Expect to see more of the game later this year, as it is due for a 2025 release.
Skydance’s Behemoth
Skydance’s Behemoth for PlayStation VR2 made an appearance in today’s State of Play, confirming a fall 2024 release window. From the same developers as The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Skydance Games aims to deliver an experience of grand scale that only VR can achieve. To do that, the game will live up to its name by designing everything relative to the Behemoths, meaning players will literally be fighting a mountain. Unlike The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, players won’t be dealing with mindless zombies in the Forsaken Lands. Instead, the world is filled with strategic warriors and massive Behemoths, aiming to deliver a VR experience like no other.
Alien: Rogue Incursion
Another PlayStation VR2 title, Alien: Rogue Incursion, delivered a world premiere of gameplay for the first next-gen Alien VR game. Set to launch this holiday season, Alien: Rogue Incursion is a single-player action-horror game with an all-new storyline. It’s being developed with Unreal Engine 5 as a high-tension shooter set in an overrun facility on the planet Purdan.
Marvel Rivals
First revealed in late March, Marvel Rivals has been confirmed to be heading to consoles with a closed beta in July. The 6v6 superhero team-based PvP shooter recently hosted a beta on PC, which highlighted its similarities to Overwatch. Today’s trailer revealed Venom and Adam Warlock, and the PlayStation 5 version of the game will offer an exclusive Scarlet Spider costume.
Where Winds Meet
One of the more interesting reveals from today’s State of Play was Where Winds Meet by Everstone Studio. The game has been in development for the past five years and is described as an epic Wuxia open-world action-adventure RPG. For those unfamiliar, Wuxia is a genre of fiction and cinema centered around warriors from ancient China, often portrayed with superhuman martial arts feats. In Where Winds Meet, you, the player, will have the chance to master these amazing Chinese martial arts using the mystical power of Qinggong. The game is set in the period of Chinese history known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, a time of great turbulence and change. No release window was announced for Where Winds Meet.
Until Dawn
The 2015 interactive drama horror game Until Dawn is being rebuilt and enhanced for PlayStation 5 and PC. The story is set when eight friends return to an isolated lodge where two of their group vanished a year prior. While it’s been several years since I played Until Dawn, I found the game surprisingly enjoyable and less cheesy than you might think. It stars several notable actors including Hayden Panettiere, Brett Dalton, and Rami Malek.
Path of Exile 2
The upcoming free-to-play action RPG Path of Exile 2 made an appearance during the State of Play to unveil its couch co-op feature for the console version. When it releases, players will be able to play collaboratively on a single account or log in with two separate Path of Exile accounts on the same console. Developer Grinding Gear Games also confirmed that Path of Exile 2 will have full cross-play and cross-progression support. Path of Exile 2 is set to enter early access on PlayStation 5 later this year.
Silent Hill 2
It was a bit surprising to see Silent Hill 2 make an appearance at State of Play, considering a Silent Hill Transmission was happening after PlayStation’s broadcast. Nonetheless, we got a new trailer today and confirmation that the game will launch on October 8. More details on the game are expected to be unveiled during the Silent Hill Transmission.
Monster Hunter Wilds
The most exciting trailer for me came from Capcom as we saw gameplay for Monster Hunter Wilds, which was first announced during last year’s The Game Awards. The new trailer gave us a look at the Windward Plains, the first locale the investigation team will explore upon arriving at the Forbidden Lands. Capcom said the environments in Monster Hunter Wilds will change drastically, and the monsters and organisms will adapt accordingly. The game aims to deliver a world that feels alive.
A Monster Hunter game wouldn’t be complete without its famous monsters. Today’s trailer gave us a look at Doshaguma, Chatacabra, Ceratonoth, and Dalthydon. Building on what it started in Monster Hunter Rise, players will get a new mount in Monster Hunter Wilds called the Seikret. This rideable mount will enable hunters to access and switch to a secondary weapon without returning to base, which will undoubtedly change the gameplay dynamics significantly.
Capcom confirmed that the 14 iconic weapon types will return: Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun, and Bow. Other new features in Monster Hunter Wilds include Focus Mode, giving hunters more precise control, and Hook Slinger, a new version of the slinger.
Monster Hunter Wilds launches sometime in 2025. In the meantime, you may want to play Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, as having save data will result in special bonuses in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Astro Bot
The final announcement of the day was Astro Bot, a new title from Team Asobi launching on September 6. Astro first appeared at the launch of PlayStation 5 with Astro’s Playroom, which was designed to show players the capabilities of the new DualSense controller while paying tribute to PlayStation’s 25 years of history. The free game became such a hit with the community that Astro is getting its own super-sized space adventure, where players can explore six galaxies and over 80 levels. It will feature over 15 new abilities that take advantage of the DualSense controller, its haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers.
The game also includes over 70 new types of baddies, including huge bosses at the end of each galaxy. Most importantly, the trailer reveals how Astro will reunite with many friends from the PlayStation universe, some of which will likely spark rumors of possible new entries in those franchises.
Preorders for Astro Bot will open on June 7, and the game is slated to launch on September 6. If you dismissed Astro’s Playroom as some sort of tech demo for the PlayStation 5, I encourage you to download it and check it out—it’s a surprisingly fun adventure!
