The PlayStation 4 continues to show its strength, selling 60.4 million units between its November 2013 launch and June 2017. At that time in 2013, software totaled over 487.8 million units sold to over 70 million active monthly users, 26.4 million of which were active PlayStation Plus subscribers. Not content to rest on its laurels, Sony wants to continue to draw players in with strong PS4 upcoming exclusives lined up for the near future. Here are some of our favorites.
God of War
Over 21.6 million of those shipped software products belonged to the God of War series. Rightly so—few series have combined hack-and-slash action with such beautiful visuals and sound, backed up by compelling stories to boot. Of all the upcoming PS4 exclusives, this is near the top of the heap.
God of War, 2018’s soft reboot of the series, takes a new approach with an older Kratos and his young son. Developer interviews have hinted at a new tone and a new direction for the series, and players are positively dying to experience it.
Spider-Man
Insomniac Games wants to make Spider-Man great again. Spider-Man will join the list of new PS4 exclusives, having previously been available on numerous platforms. After a series of disappointing console and PC games—some so bad they were eventually pulled from shelves and digital stores—Sony has stepped up to ensure that our favorite web-slinger rises from the ashes.
Scheduled for the first half of 2018, Insomniac’s Spider-Man will tell a standalone story not previously covered in film or comics, involving both Spider-Man and Peter Parker’s lives some eight years after Peter first took on his great responsibility.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
In 1997—and it didn’t help that many of us were kids—Final Fantasy VII was thrilling, even if it was difficult to follow. Twenty short years later, a story about a band of eco-terrorists squaring off against a corrupt corporation stands to make a huge impact, far beyond our curiosity to see a realistic update to this retro RPG gem.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is the product of Square Enix Business Division 1 in cooperation with Epic Games Japan on recreating the original content in Epic’s Unreal Engine—which enabled an interesting number of the upcoming PlayStation exclusives. The game is expected to be released in large parts as a series, which should eliminate the need to cut original content, while allowing the team to add new content, such as granting access to parts of the world previously inaccessible to players.
The Last of Us Part II
In 2013, The Last of Us debuted to universal acclaim—literally in the case of Metacritic, where it holds an aggregated score of 95 out of 100—and has received over 240 Game of the Year awards. It should come as no surprise that Sony seeks to recapture lightning in a bottle by extending the series with a sequel.
The Last of Us Part II was announced at last year’s PlayStation Experience event. The project will retain Naughty Dog as its developer, though under a new director, as Bruce Straley previously departed from the company. The game will tell a new story with the same main characters, several years after the events that transpired in the first game. The sequel has already won several awards, including Most Anticipated Game of the Year.
Days Gone
Further cementing the near future of the action-adventure survival horror genre is SIE Bend’s Days Gone, expected at some point in the next year. SIE first gained a fan base with their 1999 hit Syphon Filter, and they haven’t created a console game since 2010. Nonetheless, early trailers for the game look promising.
Days Gone specializes in freedom, both in its open world and its various means of allowing players to advance, including stealth, crafting, and aggressive weapon use. The game has been in development since 2015 and a specific release window remains unclear.
With PlayStation’s sharp business moves including the new PlayStation 4 hardware and early adoption of a virtual reality headset, PlayStation stands to maintain a strong position in the console race. Whether players are interested in powerful hardware, cutting-edge tech, or just great upcoming exclusive PS4 games, Sony has done a great job of giving them reasons to join in the fun.
What other great exclusives would you love to see come to the PlayStation?
