At PlayStation's 2021 Showcase, Sony showed off a remake of Knights of the Old Republic two new Marvel titles from Insomniac, and a first look at of God of War: Ragnarok.
In a year where several new game showcases have come off as muted (thanks to COVID-19-driven delays), Sony's stood out by opening with news of a Knights of the Old Republic remake, announcing two new Marvel titles from Insomniac Games (a Wolverine adventure and a sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man), and closing with highly anticipated footage of God of War: Ragnarok.
Here's a rundown of the most notable announcements
Sony kicked things off by teasing a "remake" of BioWare's Knights of the Old Republic. Not much was shown beyond a return of everyone's favorite morally ambiguous Jedi/Sith protagonist Darth Revan, but the news that Aspyr is moving beyond Star Wars ports into Star Wars remakes is eyebrow-raising.
The game will be a console exclusive on PlayStation 5 at launch.
PlayStation's in-house studios stepped up to showcase a number of new PS5-exclusive titles as well. These included two Marvel games from Insomniac Games (Marvel's Wolverine, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2), new footage of God of War: Ragnarok, and new footage of Grand Turismo 7.)
For any horror fans in the audience, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will feature none other than Candyman actor Tony Todd as the voice of fan-favorite Spider-Man villain Venom.
Two third-party projects--indie adventure Tchia and Radiohead Collaberation Kid A Mnesia Exhibition were also announced during the showcase.
A number of previously-announced games were given the spotlight to show off gameplay and new features. These included:
- South Korean developer Shift Up's Project Eve.
- Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, from Gearbox and 2K.
- Forspoken, the new action-adventure game from Square Enix.
- Ubisoft's upcoming PvE spinoff of Rainbow Six Siege-- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege: Extraction
- Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, from Eidos Montreal
- Ports for Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
- Vampire the Masquerade: Blood Hunt
- Deathloop
- PC and PS5 ports for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and its DLC Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Sony continues to juggle a mix of console-first exclusives like the KOTOR remake as well as exclusive titles from its in-house studios to draw interest in the (hard-to-buy) PlayStation 5.
Many of the featured games have likely seen their development slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, so it will remain interesting to see which games stick to their projected release dates, and which ones will need to move to accommodate changes in development and the pandemic's continued spread.