June 3rd is now less than a week away and—barring any changes due to the pandemic that’s made everything unpredictable—that’s the day we should learn something more about the PS5, according to recent reports. According to one of those accounts, once again from VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb, Sony saw the negative response to Microsoft’s Inside Xbox “gameplay” showcase for the Series X and took quite a few notes. The company will lean on PS5 games that are actually running on the PS5 hardware when it starts showing what players can expect next-gen.
This particular detail comes from a report on VentureBeat backing the recent Bloomberg story from Jason Schreier about the June 3rd PlayStation 5 reveal event date. Grubb commented saying Sony seems cognizant of how players responded to Inside Xbox, and will instead try to showcase “what is possible,” rather than general in-engine footage that lacks any real “next-gen” feel.
So then what will Sony show off next week? Expect it to focus on what is possible in next-gen games with the PlayStation 5. The company seems aware of the backlash that Microsoft faced for its first Xbox 20/20 event. Fans were unhappy with the lack of gameplay at that presentation. In response, Sony wants to rely on PS5 games that are actually running on real hardware.
Sony’s early June PS5 reveal event has been rumored for a few weeks now, first reported—and then delayed—by Jeff Grubb. The more recent June 3rd date is now being corroborated by more people, lending additional weight and credence to this finally being the date that Sony begins talking about its next-gen plans in a big way. Now that Sony has its biggest marketing pushes for its upcoming PS4 exclusives out of the way—namely the two single-game State of Play broadcasts for The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima—it can begin to focus on its messaging and ongoing marketing for the PS5.
Figuring out how to reveal the PS5 hasn’t been easy for Sony in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has upset the original marketing plans for the year. Apparently the DualSense controller reveal was forced out of necessity to preempt leaks, and Sony had to cancel its original PS5 reveal event plans in pursuit of a more professional stream.
