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Sony has confirmed its annual fan-focused PlayStation Experience event will not be going ahead in 2018.
Speaking on the PlayStation Blogcast, Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden explained there would be no event this year for the fans, as it simply wouldn’t be ‘enough’ to bring in the crowds and leave them feeling satisfied with the event. In other words: the big games – for now – are out, and the publisher doesn’t want to show off anything more until a later date.
With Spider-Man released, Layden explained, Sony has the likes of Media Molecule’s Dreams and Days Gone arriving in 2019 – but beyond that, there’s nothing of note in a reasonable (confirmed) timeframe. “We don’t want to set expectations really high and then not deliver on it,” he explained, “It was a hard decision, but we have determined this year we will not hold PlayStation Experience.”
The decision to not hold the event this year pours cold water on the hopes people might have had of seeing the likes of the Last of Us 2, Death Stranding, and Ghost of Tsushima releasing in the early part of 2019 – or even just getting more details about them.
It’s a shift from 2017’s edition of the showcase, which had actually grown by about 50 per cent over it’s 2016 version. No, this year we’re seeing a full 100 per cent decrease in size, with no event at all.
It doesn’t feel like as massive a blow as it might otherwise, in part because of the fact the PlayStation Experience has only been running since 2014 – there’s only been four events held in the States so far, even though the PlayStation has been around over 20 years. Ah well, there’s always next year.
