The State of Play – PlayStation

Welcome to the final part of our mini-series looking back at 2018 and forward to 2019. This time we’re checking out the undisputed champion of this generation, Sony. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or tweet us @square_xo.

2018 was the year that Sony delivered on so many of the promises made earlier in the console generation. It was the year that God of War, Detroit: Become Human and Spider-Man hit the PlayStation 4, nestled in alongside the best third-party line-up in years.

This generation has seen a huge amount of exclusives for Sony’s console, but this year may have been the best yet. God of War won Game of the Year, while Spider-Man was also nominated. Love them or hate them, continued content exclusivity deals with Activision for Destiny 2 and Call of Duty would have pushed plenty people who were on the fence onto the PlayStation, and there’s still more to come.

There were some negatives – E3 was a bit of a mess for Sony this year, caught somewhere between stage show and couch interview, the company has been slow to adopt Cross-Play, and the Vita is now just awaiting the flaming arrow to complete its Viking funeral. With the death of one piece of hardware, however, came new life for another.

PlayStation VR saw a renaissance in 2018. While it is the most underpowered of the major headsets, it’s ubiquity to the PlayStation console over 75 million people have under their TV means it is likely the most popular. This year has seen the release of Tetris Effect, Astrobot, and Beat Saber – all contenders for our Game of the Year here at SquareXO.

Another piece of hardware that continues to be quietly excellent is the PlayStation 4 Pro. The console may not have the pure horsepower of its rival the Xbox One X, but once you’ve seen exclusives such as God of War in 4K you won’t care at all. This year saw more and more games receive Pro support, cementing the Pro as a key piece of the PlayStation puzzle heading into 2019.
And what of 2019? With Sony confirming they will not be making an appearance at E3, what is there to look forward to? Luckily, there’s still plenty of mileage left in your PlayStation. In fact, 2019 may be the most impressive swansong to a console yet.

The Last of Us Part 2. Ghost of Tsushima. Death Stranding. Days Gone. All of these are coming exclusively to PlayStation 4, and when you consider third-party titles such as Anthem, Kingdom Hearts 3, and Sekiro it becomes clear that there really is something for everyone.

We’re also awaiting the arrival of the much-requested “Name Change” feature of the PSN which is currently in beta, while PlayStation Now has been updated to allow the downloading of games rather than solely streaming. This brings it much closer to Xbox Game Pass and could be another battle that extends well into the next generation.

PlayStation 5 is coming, likely not until 2020, but the PlayStation 4 still has plenty to offer until then. If Sony can maintain the momentum they’ve built this generation, they’ll be tough to catch.
What have been your PlayStation highlights from 2018? And what are you most excited to play there in 2019? Let us know in the comments below!