Yesterday, after a roughly 24 hour heads up, Sony live-streamed the latest of their State of Play presentations1, in what would’ve been the standard E3 presentation week.

In case you missed it, you can stream the whole thing here.

I’ve watched a lot of these presentations over the years — I’m very susceptible to hype — and I have to say, this may have been one of the most confident, complete and downright thrilling presentations by any of the big three video game companies in quite some time.

From the jump, with the reveal of the latest installment of the Lumines puzzle franchise, a relaunch in the vein of the enchanting Tetris Effect games, I was surprised and delighted by the breadth of games shared over the hour. Different genres, unique art styles, genuine risks in storytelling and audience focus — basically, intentionally or not, it seemed to be a direct shot at recent op-ed’s lamenting the end of the gaming industry, with its focus on only massive, cash grabbing hits and the heartbreaking increase of layoffs.

Are those still a problem? Yes, absolutely. But there was something in the air of yesterday’s presentation that told me that the world of creative games is not going out without a fight.

Among my personal highlights, which link out to their individual trailers:

In a year where my interest in gaming has been minimal, with me having only played the PS5 port of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle3, and anxiously awaiting my Switch 2 pre-order along with Mario Kart World, this was a shot in the arm for me. These are games made the way I like my games. And I hope they can all live up to their promise. I’ll be crossing my fingers as they release.


  1. For those unawares, this is Sony’s semi-regular online broadcast to share game announcements, similar to Nintendo’s Direct series. ↩︎

  2. And it’s gonna be free for PlayStation Plus subscribers when it hits this Summer! ↩︎

  3. I know, I know, I need to check out Clair Obscur: Expedition 33↩︎