Last week, Sony postponed a planned event to show off new games for its upcoming PlayStation 5 video game console due for release during the holiday season later this year. The event was postponed as the company wanted to “allow more important voices to be heard” as people around the world reacted and protested against police brutality and the murder of George Floyd in the US.
Sony has set a new date for its event – 11 June. A pretaped event, Sony will be focused mostly on games set for the new console. Announcements about the PS5 itself and its launch are expected sometime in the spring.
Postponing the initial event
Sony’s CEO of PlayStation Jim Ryan said to CNET that last week was “no time to celebrate” amid international turmoil and renewed racial strife. For Sony, he says, the few weeks since the murder of Floyd and the subsequent video being released, have been an opportunity for introspection about business practices, approach and diversity among staff.
“There are moments in life when something happens around you and you realize that what you’ve been doing is either not big enough, not good enough, or just wrong. This is such a moment,” Ryan says in an email exchange. “We are going to take a good hard look at how we behave as a company, and how we behave towards our community.”
In part of this, Sony’s PlayStation division has pledged $1 million to causes supporting the black community.
Ryan says the decision to delay the PS5 event was straightforward. The show was already taped and completed, he added, but last week didn’t feel like a time to celebrate.
Sony’s The Future of Gaming Event
See you Thursday, June 11 at 1:00pm Pacific time (9:00pm BST) for a look at the future of gaming on #PS5: https://t.co/9XJkXYProo pic.twitter.com/8EoN34UPdd
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 8, 2020
The upcoming 11 June event is set for discussions around new titles for the PS5 console. Sony has initially planned to hold the event for 4 June despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which shut down the annual E3 video game show earlier this year.
PlayStation CEO Ryan initially touted the event as a first look at games that’ll be made for the console. It was to be held entirely online and last about an hour. The 11 June event will likely be the same.
Viewers of the event are recommended to wear headphones while watching the video. Sony says that “cool audio work” is awaiting viewers who won’t be able to enjoy it the same from laptop or phone speakers.
Sony also said the event will stream at 1080p and 30 frames per second, much lower than the 4K quality the device is capable of showing. Sony said the video was reduced to ease the production process since many staff and developers are working from home.
Sony is planning to stream the event live on its official PlayStation website. It’ll be also streamed live on Sony’s PlayStation YouTube page and live on the PlayStation Twitch page.
What’s expected
Launch titles for the PS5 include games like Ubisoft’s new addition to its flagship series in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Epic Game’s enormously popular Fortnite, as well as Godfall – a PS5 exclusive. No doubt these will feature in the event at some point.
Other games expected to feature include Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2, as well as a remaster of FromSoftware’s 2015 masterpiece, Bloodborne.
Gamers should also expect brand new games featured in the event, and gameplay that we have never seen before.
Edited by Luis Monzon
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