• Sony and PlayStation will begin the year’s first State of Play showcase at midnight South African time.
• More than 15 games will feature, as well as insight from industry experts who will delineate PlayStation’s 2024 and beyond.
• Action game Stellar Blade and open-world RPG Rise of the Ronin are confirmed, as well as several PSVR 2 titles.

On Wednesday 31st January, Sony and PlayStation will host the year’s first State of Play showcase, an over 40-minute long broadcast featuring guest appearances from members of the gaming industry and upcoming titles fans can expect out of the Japanese brand for 2024 and beyond.

According to the PlayStation blog, the State of Play will begin on Wednesday 31st January at 14:00 PT, which is at 00:00 South African time, so if you’re a local gamer looking to catch the show be prepared to sleep a little later than usual.

The company says that the show will stream live on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. Alternatively, you can return to this article at midnight and watch the stream in the embedded YouTube video below:

What you can expect at the State of Play showcase:

Two games are expected to receive the most time at the showcase. They are Stellar Blade – a new action game from South Korean studio Shift Up that features Souls-like combat and boss fights. The second is Rise of the Ronin, from Japan’s Team Ninja – the creators of Nioh.

This one is touted as an open-world action RPG that depicts the “darkest time” in the medieval history of Japan. According to Team Ninja president Fumihiko Yasuda, the game is the most ambitious project the studio has undergone yet.

PlayStation says that more than 15 games will be covered during the runtime of the State of Play, the vast majority will be for the PlayStation 5.

What could be shown at the State of Play:

Any upcoming PlayStation exclusive could feature at the event. Fans are already expecting an update at Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2, or perhaps some more information on his upcoming title OD which was revealed at last year’s Game Awards. Some of Kojima’s older titles – the remastered Snake Eater game – is another plausible addition.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the next installment in the remade series for the JRPG classic could get some new footage. We could also get a glimpse of a Silent Hill game, including the upcoming remaster for Silent Hill 2.

Several PSVR 2 games have been confirmed to be shown, but not what the games are – if existing upcoming titles or brand new reveals. We could also see some brand new games being announced, either fresh IP or sequels to PlayStation’s existing roster of titles.

Other expected games, which could be a long shot, include a remaster of Sonic Generations, a new version of Until Dawn, and a new Metro game.

What most likely won’t be shown, but we’d lose our minds if it was:

You know what it is. The Bloodborne remaster is still out there in the ether. There has been less than zero official word about it, but the faithful few will never give up hope. The latest saw Sony issue a cease and desist to the developers of Bloodborne Kart – a fan made, free to play game that sees a PS One-style kart racing game in the setting and with the characters of Bloodborne.

Does this mean that Sony still cares about the IP? Yes. Does it mean that something new and Bloodborne-y is happening? Not likely. Still, we look to the moon for a sign.

What else? Oh, the new Elden Ring DLC could see some footage at the State of Play, though this is also a long shot. The latest of the highly anticipated expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree sees players glued to Steam databases and YouTube playlists for a crumb of evidence that Bandai Namco is preparing to drop a trailer.

It is likely that Shadow of the Erdtree will be revealed later in the year, but the potential for a State of Play showcase isn’t zero, though close to it.