More than a few times now, we’ve all had discussions about how 2024 is looking like an uncharacteristically dry year for PlayStation. The juggernaut that typically packs its years full of major, tentpole first-party releases has looked to be headed towards a relatively uneventful year, while in the early months of 2024, the company even outright confirmed that it wouldn’t be releasing any new instalments in flagship first-party franchises until at least April 2025. In the first half of this year, then, it’s been hard not to be disappointed in how things are turning out for PlayStation.
Suddenly, however, things are starting to look up. Sure, we’re not getting a big blockbuster PlayStation Studios release this year along the lines of something like a God of War, Spider-Man, Horizon, or what have you, but from smaller first-party games to externally developed titles being published under the PlayStation Studios umbrella to major third-party exclusives, all things considered, the PlayStation 5 has racked up an impressive stable of releases that you’re not going to get on any other console in 2024. This year, which was supposed to be an off one for PlayStation, is sneakily turning into a surprisingly packed one for the platform.
But before we look ahead at the coming months and what they’re going to have in store for PlayStation 5 owners, let’s first look back at how the first half of the year has panned out for the console so far- and it’s fair to say that it’s actually been quite solid. So far this year, the PS5 has seen the release of a number of major exclusives already, the majority of which have seen impressive success to varying degrees.
There’s Helldivers 2, of course, Sony’s fastest selling game of all time, and a game that has instantly cemented itself as one of the best live service experiences of all time and one of the best co-op shooters you’re ever going to play. Then there’s Stellar Blade, a game that turned out to be a much better made and more enjoyable action experience than many people would have admitted. There’s also Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which obviously isn’t a first-party game, but is still a PS5 exclusive that, despite its disappointing commercial performance, has received universal acclaim and may even have a really good shot at being crowned as 2024’s best game at the end of the year by many. Even Rise of the Ronin, which saw mixed responses from critics at best, has been received well by a sizeable portion of its player base.
All of which is to say that 2024 has already been quite a solid year for PS5 so far, if the metric we’re judging things by is how many exclusives it has seen, and how good those exclusives have been. And you know what? Looking ahead, it looks right now like the PS5’s second half of the year is going to be very similar to its first, in that even though the console doesn’t have any major, flagship first-party releases lined up, it does have several notable exclusive games in the pipeline. Are all of them looking equally appealing? Not quite, but a good number of them are.
The one that most people seem to have their eye on right now is also the one that was most recently announced. At its recent State of Play presentation, Sony and developer Team Asobi announced Astro Bot, the beloved yet underutilized platforming mascot’s first ever full-fledged console release- and unsurprisingly, it’s looking absolutely delightful. Ever since Astro Bot Rescue Missions wowed those who played it when it first launched for the original PlayStation VR, fans have been begging for a full console release for the IP, and now that one is actually on the horizon, excitement is appropriately high, and climbing higher still.
Another major exclusive set to hit the PS5 later this year is one that, like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth from earlier in the year, isn’t actually coming from the PlayStation Studios banner. Konami and Bloober Team’s remake of the legendary Silent Hill 2 has been one of the most highly anticipated upcoming games for many for a couple of years now, and recently, Konami confirmed at long last that it will be releasing in October. To go along with that, the company also showcased an extensive gameplay demonstration of the survival horror remake, and though there’s still plenty of skepticism around for how the game is going to turn out (thanks in large part to the mistrust many seem to have in both Bloober Team and Konami’s ability to properly pull this off), it would be unfair to not give credit where credit is due- because in its most recent showing, the remake looked notably better than it did when Konami bafflingly showcased its combat-focused trailer last year. Is it still looking exactly as good as its many fans would have hoped for? Perhaps not. But, if nothing else, there’s at least reason to be cautiously optimistic now.
And that’s not all. Beyond Astro Bot and Silent Hill 2, the PS5 has a couple other exclusives coming in the remaining months of the year as well- like an expanded remaster of Until Dawn. Developed by Ballistic Moon, the upcoming remaster is promising some intriguing changes and improvements, from new environments and re-cut narrative sections to new collectibles to track down, upgraded visuals to enjoy, a new third-person camera to check out, and more. Whether or not Until Dawn is a game that needed remastering is, of course, a question worth asking (that seems to be the case for a large number of the remasters and remakes Sony releases these days, funnily enough), but for fans of the original or those who never played it, the upcoming remaster is looking like an intriguing prospect.
Meanwhile, there’s also Concord, which, admittedly, is looking much less exciting than most other PlayStation exclusive games set to come out in the coming months. Sony recently did a full blowout on the game, and though there’s some parts of the game that look interesting – including its Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired setting, for starters – by and large, it’s easy to see why many seem underwhelmed at the prospect of yet another 5v5 live service hero shooter. When you’ve got Overwatch fumbling things as poorly as it is, Valorant continuing to go strong, and a promising new competitor coming up in Marvel Rivals (to name just a few), how much hope does Concord have of establishing a proper foothold and finding an actual, sizeable audience? Maybe it isn’t guaranteed to be dead on arrival – you never know what may or may not take off, as Helldivers 2 proved earlier this year itself – but so far, there isn’t much excitement surrounding the game’s release.
And yet, there’s still no shortage of exclusives to look forward to for those looking for games that can’t be found on any other platform but the PlayStation 5. It wasn’t that long ago that many of us were voicing concerns about how light 2024 was looking for the year in terms of exclusive titles (including yours truly), but slowly and surely, the console has built up a surprisingly solid lineup of notable upcoming exclusives. They may not be the blockbuster megatons that we usually expect from PlayStation, but there’s still plenty to look forward to and be excited about.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.