Sony will finally unveil the games coming to the PlayStation 5 today, June 11, in a digital showcase that has become the norm for the industry amid the ongoing health crisis.
The online event, titled The Future of Gaming, will provide the first look at the games that will be available for the PlayStation 5 when it launches later this year in time for the holiday season.
“The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe,” wrote Sony Interactive Entertainment head Jim Ryan in a blog post. “Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware.”
The event was originally scheduled for June 4, but it was postponed due to the growing social unrest in the United States.
When does the PS5 event start?
The Future of Gaming will start at 1 p.m. PT today, Thursday, June 11, and according to Ryan, the show will last “for a bit more than an hour.”
In an update regarding the event on the PlayStation.Blog, it was recommended that users wear headphones during the reveal because there will be “some cool audio work in the show, and it might be harder to appreciate if it’s pumped through your phone or laptop speakers.”
Where can I watch the PS5 event?
The digital showcase will be streamed in the player above, and on the official PlayStation channels on Twitch and YouTube.
- PlayStation on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/playstation
- PlayStation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/PlayStation
What to expect from the PS5 event
Sony has reportedly told developers that PlayStation 4 games submitted for certification from July 13 should be compatible with the PlayStation 5, Eurogamer reported, citing developer documentation released on the PlayStation’s internal partner website.
Meanwhile, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Ryan suggested that PlayStation 5 games will not be playable on the PlayStation 4. “We have always said that we believe in generations. We believe that when you go to all the trouble of creating a next-gen console, that it should include features and benefits that the previous generation does not include. And that, in our view, people should make games that can make the most of those features.”
This means that there may be some PlayStation 4 games that will make the jump to the PlayStation 5, but gamers should not hope that the exclusives that will be featured in the June 11 event for the next-generation console will also be made available for its predecessor. In comparison, the Xbox Series X promises to be “the most compatible console ever,” with thousands of games from all three previous Xbox generations available at launch.
It remains to be seen if Sony will finally unveil the console’s design and price tag. Gamers looking forward to the PlayStation 5, however, should expect more online reveals over the coming weeks and months leading up to the console’s release.
“This is part of our series of PS5 updates and, rest assured, after next week’s showcase, we will still have much to share with you,” wrote Ryan in the blog post.
Resident Evil 8?
It’s also been suggested that Resident Evil 8 will be announced at the event. An industry insider who goes by “Dusk Golem” indicated as much, pointing out the recent sale on Resident Evil titles that started in tandem with what would have been the announcement of the PS5 before its delay.
The Resident Evil games going on sale is no surprise, but the time they all went on sale, and RE7's super discount, are both pretty telling.
— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) June 5, 2020
After commenters offered rebuttals, Dusk Golem explained that sales on a bevy of Resident Evil titles across all platforms have only occurred during special events, such as the reveals of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. Dusk Golem also previously leaked the development of Resident Evil 3‘s remake in late 2018, as per a post on ResetEra, so an unveiling of Resident Evil 8 may be a very real possibility.
Updated June 9, 2020: Added rumors that Resident Evil 8 could also be announced at the event.