We’ve already rounded up a collection of all 18 announcements from the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase, but what about everything that we didn’t see at the show? I’m not talking about literally everything—it was good of PlayStation to refrain from showing more of the already much shown Kena, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and even Horizon Forbidden West, even if the show did waste a bit of time on the over-trailered Deathloop. But what about the announcements we were all expecting, or at least hoping for? The rumors that had been flying around the week before the show? Sony had only set expectations that it wouldn’t contain info on PSVR2 (which we won’t include here for this reason), but what else were people expecting that didn’t show up during the showcase?
In particular, there are numerous first-party PlayStation Studios whose projects are unknown at this time, even as Insomniac is out here dropping two more reveals after already releasing two games and a remaster on PS5. So what were we anticipating that wasn’t shown?
Everything We Didn’t See at the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase
Bluepoint’s Next Game or Acquisition
Where is Bluepoint, and what are they up to? The team hasn’t really been heard from since it launched Demon’s Souls on PS5 last year. Then the Sony acquisition of Bluepoint leaked—or did it? We’ve heard nothing official about it since, and it’s starting to look like the image welcoming Bluepoint to the PlayStation Studios family really was just a mistake. Bluepoint maintains that it is still fully independent and self-funded. Unfortunately the PlayStation Showcase didn’t provide any additional answers.
Abandoned/BLUE BOX Game Studios
This isn’t one that I was expecting at all myself (I would have been much more surprised if it had shown up), but I had to add it here because there were undoubtedly some people holding out hope that BLUE BOX Game Studios would use the PlayStation Showcase stage to finally reveal Abandoned. However, I think this is yet another nail in a pretty nail-filled coffin on this studio and game, showing definitively that Sony’s alleged “partnership” with the studio doesn’t extend much past allowing some space on the PlayStation Blog for an announcement earlier this year. Speaking of…
Hideo Kojima/Silent Hill
I’m lumping these two together, because they always get lumped together. Hideo Kojima has Death Stranding Director’s Cut coming later this month, but we don’t know what he’s working on next. Anyone expecting some surprise reveal that he is working on a Silent Hill game came away from the PlayStation Showcase disappointed. I think this is more than enough to put the whole Kojima/BLUE BOX/Abandoned/Silent Hill stuff to rest now. We still don’t know what Kojima is up to, but let’s move on.
Final Fantasy XVI
Admittedly, the developers had said that they didn’t even expect Final Fantasy XVI to hit Tokyo Game Show, so expectations that it would make this PlayStation Showcase were low, but the last time we saw it was when the game was revealed at the PS5 Showcase in September 2020, and this makes it now more than a year since we’ve seen the game. It’s expected to be on track for release in 2022, so it was surprising that we didn’t see it show up for this showcase a year after its reveal.
Naughty Dog Multiplayer Game/Future Project
Naughty Dog did make an appearance at the PlayStation Showcase, but it was to announce the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection on PS5 and PC. We still have no idea what the studio’s next new single-player game is, and they didn’t reveal anything about the multiplayer game we know they are working on. After The Last of Us Part II releasing back in 2020, it’s starting to feel overdue to hear what’s coming next from Naughty Dog.
inFAMOUS/Sucker Punch
Rumors were heralding the announcement of a new inFAMOUS game, but the series was nowhere to be seen. Additionally, we have no idea what Sucker Punch has been up to, with Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut now out in the wild. The studio was a no-show for this event, secretly toiling away at whatever’s next.
Sunset Overdrive
Many have long expected that Sony’s acquisition of Insomniac would one day lead to the studio’s Xbox exclusive, Sunset Overdrive, coming to PlayStation platforms. Sadly, despite teases in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Sony trademarking the name, Sunset Overdrive remains stuck on Xbox for now, and wasn’t a part of this PlayStation Showcase. Which, given the fact that Insomniac has been crazy busy with its PS5 releases so far, with two more announced on the way in this very showcase, isn’t a huge surprise.
Bend Studio
We know that whatever they are working on isn’t Days Gone 2, but Bend Studio hasn’t been heard from much since the post-apocalyptic motorcycle adventure launched. Whatever they are working on may have multiplayer elements, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out what the team is up to.
Crash Bandicoot Wumpa League
A series of teasers sent out to press and influencers for Crash Bandicoot’s 25th Anniversary seemed to hint at the long rumored Wumpa League game being announced. Multiple hints kept pointing to this rumor being almost a sure thing, with an announcement that was surely imminent at the PlayStation Showcase taking place on the anniversary itself, right? Alas, no, Crash’s 25th Anniversary came and went without and details about a new game, though Toys For Bob promises we’ll see the Bandicoot again “very soon.” Just not that soon, apparently.
PlayStation Plus/PS Now
It doesn’t seem like Sony has any plans to shake up PlayStation Plus or PS Now anytime soon. The services didn’t make an appearance at the PlayStation Showcase, which basically just focused on games.
PS5 Hardware/Firmware/Partnerships
If I’m being honest, I had wholly expected the PS5 showcase to mark the surprise release of the PS5 firmware that is currently in beta, unlocking that SSD expansion bay for everyone. I’d also thought it would be a great time for Sony to talk about the future of the console’s firmware, and updates they are looking to bring to the table. Almost a year in, and we still don’t really know what the “future” of the PS5 itself looks like. Will we ever get themes? The games looks great, don’t get me wrong, but I want to know what Sony’s engineers are working on from a firmware perspective. I lumped partnerships in here, because I had thought we’d hear more about the Discord partnership that should be integrated with the PSN early next year too.
PlayStation TV Series and Movies
Not games, but with Sony’s renewed focus on PlayStation Productions, and bringing its franchises to film and TV, I half expected the PlayStation showcase to take a moment to talk about these, maybe even drop the first trailer for the Uncharted movie.
Twisted Metal
Semi-related to the above, a new rumor suggests that a Twisted Metal game is in the works to coincide with the Twisted Metal series coming from PlayStation Productions. This one was a bit of a pipe dream, given that it is probably in early production, too early to show off any kind of trailer or announcement. Then again, Insomniac did drop that early Marvel’s Wolverine teaser, so anything is possible. Still, we didn’t end up seeing any Twisted Metal.
Other First and Second-Party PlayStation Studios
While it had some big reveals, the PlayStation Studios portion of the show was actually pretty barren when it came to the breadth of Sony’s teams. Where were teams like Pixelopus, and the other first-party teams that we mentioned above? Insomniac seems to be shouldering the brunt of the first-party weight of PS5 support right now, with upcoming help from Guerrilla and Santa Monica Studio (and PS5 ports of late-gen PS4 titles). We know that many studios at PlayStation Studios have multiple dev teams working on projects in tandem, but don’t have much idea what any of them are working on. We also didn’t see any updates from newly formed studios with PS partnerships, like Haven.
Was there anything else you expected to see at the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase, but end up missing from the show? Let us know in the comments.
