Our E3 Predictions for PlayStation

May 28, 2018

By: Max Cannon

PlayStation's show has often shown off some of E3's all-time greatest moments, though last year's show was pretty tame especially when compared to the impressive conference in 2016. This year has lost a bit of its luster as Sony already announced some of what we'll expect at the show which includes Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel's Spider-Man, and The Last of Us Part II but I think we'd be a little foolish to think that's all we'll see...

Let's hope E3 2016's orchestra makes a return to the Sony stage.Courtesy of PlayStation

3. A New First Party Game

Sony has some of the best first party developers making PlayStation exclusive games and I think there's another secret up their sleeve for this show. It has to be hard to top the output they have planned, as referenced above, but even more so when you consider the recent first-party releases like God of War. However, Sony has always been the master of impressive surprises and maybe they're tempering expectations by announcing what we'll see -- but this is E3 and these companies know the power of a surprise announcement.

PlayStation® All-Stars Battle Royale E3 Trailer

So, what could that mystery game be? Honestly, I have no clue but I would love to see Sony take another crack at their Smash Bros clone PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. The title itself even gives them the chance to pivot the brand into a sort of Overwatch-like hero shooter that uses Fortnite's Battle Royale game mode. That's less a prediction and more of a dream game but I would still bet money that we'll see some sort of big first party surprise.

2. Cross-Play

It's undeniable that Sony lags behind the competition in terms of cross-play between other platforms. While Xbox has been a huge proponent of encouraging gamers to play together regardless of their console, PlayStation has been much less enthusiastic to give up some of that ground to their competitor. With the impressive success of Fortnite and Nintendo and Xbox brokering peace over Minecraft, it's just a matter-of-time before PlayStation has to make that announcement and what better place than the E3 stage?

Though it's unlikely, the idea of PlayStation supporting cross-play is exciting.

1. A Hint at a Handheld

PlayStation already shut down any rumors of any new hardware appearing anytime soon, even saying that the PS4 still has about 3 more years in it until we see its successor. But, they've also been suggesting that a follow-up to the underappreciated PlayStation Vita could be possible. Now that we're living in a post-Switch world, the landscape of video gaming has their eyes on Nintendo's successes. Many of the concepts that have made the Switch so awesome are ideas that the Vita started but never executed quite right.

If PlayStation learns from the Switch's success, we could see a fantastic followup to the Vita.Courtesy of PlayStation

Though I don't think we'll see an announcement of a Vita successor at E3, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a hint at it. PlayStation is known for taking a page from Phil Spencer's playbook and hinting at upcoming titles through Shawn Layden's clothing including wearing an out of place Crash Bandicoot shirt a year before the N. Sane Trilogy was announced. Regardless of it being a handheld reference, I'll still be keeping an eye on Shawn's clothing for a tiny hint at what's to come.