Square Enix announced at the PS5 reveal event last year that they’d be launching a console exclusive open world action title developed by Luminous Productions. Tentatively given the name Project Athia at the time, the game closed out the company’s recent DIrect-style showcase, and was given a proper, official name.

It’s called Forspoken, and it has been officially given a 2022 launch window. While there’s still so much we don’t know about its world and its narrative premise, we did get to see the protagonist, Frey, in action. Several locations from the game were shown off, including a desert, a forest, and what looked like a pretty contemporary city environment. In addition to that, bits and pieces of gameplay were also shown, showcasing flight, traversal, magically-infused combat, and more. Take a look below.

Whenever Forspoken launches in 2022, it’ll be available for PS5 and PC. The game’s PlayStation console exclusivity will last for two whole years.

Vampire the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Set in the macabre World of Darkness, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 starts after a Mass Embrace aka vampires openly attacking and converting humans in full public view. With the masquerade broken, you play as a new Thinblood vampire who must choose a side. Pick a discipline, whether it’s levitating objects or mist transformation, then ally with a vampire clan for even more perks. From there, you can explore the world and take on side quests while feeding on the populace. Several delays later, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is set to release this year for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC.

Horizon Forbidden West

The world, such as it is in Horizon, is coming to an end and it’s up to Aloy to save it. Traveling to the fabled “forbidden west”, exploring the ruins of San Francisco, Utah and other regions, she encounters new tribes, new Machines and new mysteries. Based on what we’ve seen thus far, Horizon Forbidden West looks to be an even bigger and more emotional journey than the first game. It’s currently slated to release next year for PS4 and PS5.

Regardless of what you think of the games themselves, you can’t deny that Sony came out swinging with the launch of the PS5 last year. It had probably the most impressive first party lineup we’ve seen from a console launch, if in nothing else but sheer volume. Sony has shown they want the PS5’s first year to be something special, as they showed last year with several showcases of what’s the come for the system throughout 2021. Now we have some new target windows for several of those titles.

If you recall, back in June 2020, Sony did a big showcase to unveil the PS5 and several high profile titles it had coming, many that were console exclusive. At this year’s CES (provided thanks to CNET), Sony had a sizzle reel of various titles, many of which were in that same showcase with release targets in a small text at the end. Some of these we already know and are not giving any new dates or windows, such as Returnal and Hitman 3. Others, however, have not been stated before.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is said to target March, Solar Ash is slated to now target June, Little Devil Inside in July, and both GhostWire: Tokyo and Stray are looking at October. That’s in 2021. Going beyond, it seems Project Athia, which Sony has locked down a two year exclusive deal for, is targeting January 2022, and Capcom’s mysterious Pragmata, originally revealed with a 2022 target, is now said to simply be targeting 2023.

Keep in mind these are all specified as targeted time frames, so they may or may not end up hitting the mark. You can see the video and the text describing all of this below. All titles are confirmed to be coming to the PS5, with some also coming to the PS4, Xbox Series X, and PC. You can check to links posted above for more details on each title.

https://youtu.be/4FwxgZ6Qj3U?t=1428

When Sony did their first major PS5 showcase, a title that popped up was Project Athia. It was something of a head-scratcher since it’s clearly a working title and it was something from Square Enix that had not really been talked about it or had any real reference. We know the game will be a PS5 console exclusive for at least two years, even if we know little else. Some new rumors show that it was an important project for Square, though, and one they hoped to keep as secret as possible.

As reported by Imran Khan of Kinda Funny on their podcast, he said that Square Enix views the game as potentially their next big thing, and something of a pet project for the company’s CEO. Because of that, they kept it as secret as possible, even misleading people to believe it was Final Fantasy 16 before the real thing was revealed at the next PS5 event. Of course, treat this as rumor due to how it’s being reported, but Imran in general has been pretty reliable with solid sourcing.

It’s a bit odd considering how this doesn’t seem to be attached to a major brand that Square would go to such lengths to hide it, but if it’s true they say it as the next big thing I guess they wanted to keep it under wraps as much as possible. Project Athnia, or whatever its final name will be, is set to release on the PS5 and PC at some point in the future.

Square Enix’s Project Athia fell somewhat by the wayside following the announcement of Final Fantasy 16 but there’s no doubt of its potential. The open world action adventure title was touted as a PS5 console exclusive but for how long? Strangely enough, the answer has been revealed in a new trailer from the official PlayStation YouTube channel.

Highlighting all of the new and upcoming games for PlayStation 5, the trailer mentions Project Athia is “Not available on other consoles until at least 24 months after release date.” It will still be coming to PC but Xbox Series X/S players will need to wait a good two years.

Keep in mind that we don’t know how early in development the game – Project Athia is a working title, after all. There’s also the question of what Sony has seen in the project that it felt the need for such an extensive exclusivity period. Regardless, it’s big news and only increases the hype for Luminous Productions’ next. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Noye: This list also includes multiplatform games.

Horizon Forbidden West

Aloy finally makes her return…in 2021. It’s a long wait but so far, Horizon: Forbidden West is looking exceptionally gorgeous. Aloy’s mission sees her journeying to the Forbidden West, exploring the ruins of California and other iconic locations, to stop a dangerous new threat. Along with new Machines and new Tribes, there’s also underwater exploration which promises some new mechanics.

Square Enix’s Project Athia is one of the more enigmatic PS5 console exclusives. It’s an open world game from Luminous Productions of Final Fantasy 15 but we know next to nothing about it (even it’s current name is a working title). Still, it looks gorgeous and a recent demo by the developer CEDEC 2020 highlights the power of the Luminous Engine for generating landscapes.

Essentially, creating a world map of this scale manually has “reached its limit”. So Luminous Engine makes this easier, automatically placing rivers, houses, plants and so on in a meaningful way thanks to rules ascribed by its node-based tools. This helps to create large areas in real time and ensuring they’re optimized.

Project Athia doesn’t currently have a release date but it’s coming to PC along with PS5. The story focuses on a woman who’s in a world that’s not her own, one where “truths will be questioned” and “devotions will be doubted.” Whatever we’ve seen thus far seems to indicate some very fast and open exploration along with more action-oriented combat. Stay tuned for more details in the coming year though.

Check out part 1 here.

Project Athia

A timed console exclusive for PS5 (which is also coming to PC), not much is known about Project Athia. It’s an open world title, as Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda confirmed, and is set in a fantasy world with the protagonist having extensive mobility. Luminous Productions of Final Fantasy 15 fame is developing it and there’s ray-tracing support. Regardless of exclusivity, it’s going to be a long wait until its release, but that’s a recurring theme for many next-gen titles.

Square Enix is prepping for next-gen gaming in a big way with Project Athia, a new IP from Luminous Productions that will be releasing for PS5 and PC. Very little is known about the game – even its name isn’t final – but it will be an “open-world style” experience. This is according to Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda.

Speaking to Weekly Tokyo Keizai Plus (translation via Gematsu), Matsuda said that, “The game Project Athia (title tentative), which we will release for PS5, is an open-world style game in which users can freely move around the game world. PS5 dramatically improves video technology, such as with the implementation of light-reflecting ‘ray-tracing’ technology. Compared to what you see on PC, it is nearly identical.

“By utilizing these special traits, we’re able to create incredibly precise imagery. We still plan on developing well-balanced games tailored to a platform’s traits, including smartphone and cloud-based games, but we will never stop developing for high-end platforms such as PS5. Because these things are packed with the best technology.”

Luminous Productions is fairly experienced with open-world games, as evidenced by Final Fantasy 15. Such an experience would benefit greatly from the PS5’s hardware with the solid-state drive cutting down on loading times. It may be a while before anything else is revealed about Project Athia though so strap in for the long haul.

As for the PS5, it’s currently slated to release this holiday season. Launch titles include Astro’s Playroom, Deathloop, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Sony will reportedly have a new State of Play presentation in August so stay tuned for more details on other potential releases.