Will There Be A State Of Play In June?

Sony has quite literally handed E3 on a platter to Microsoft this year, what with them not attending the show or having a show floor presence. For people who may have hoped for something from Sony around E3, maybe an alternate event held around that same time, they have also explicitly confirmed that no, there will be no press showing by Sony around E3 whatsoever.

But E3 is just one week in June, and Sony’s new pet project to communicate with fans, State of Play, is not a press conference to begin with. Which begs the larger question: could there be a State of Play show by Sony in June?

Let’s start with the most basic and obvious—it’s hugely unlikely Sony has one during E3 week. Their show will be decidedly more low-profile than the glitz and glamor of E3, and they presumably don’t want to get drowned out in the noise. They can command the attention of the entire press cycle if they broadcast a State of Play stream any of the other weeks in June—which is still a lot of time for them to do so. Will they?

There are some obvious arguments against them doing that. The most immediate one is that Sony literally just had a State of Play broadcast at the start of May—and if they were going to do something at E3 this year, might it not have been better for them to just hold off just a few more weeks and do it then? Maybe a consolidated show with news and updates on games big and small alike?

And the answer to that is, not necessarily. Sony’s State of Play at the start of May was a pretty low-profile affair, clocking in at barely ten minutes, and mostly focusing on some of the smaller projects the company will push out over the coming year or so. Presumably, if Sony were to do a stream in the same month as E3, they would want to focus on their biggest games, the ones that bring the hype—stuff like The Last of Us Part 2, for example.

The other matter is one of timing—there are six weeks separating the first and second State of Play episodes. If we took that exact same time gap between the second and a hypothetical third one, then said third one would actually end up being at the end of June. Which, hey, fits with the time frame that we are discussing in this article very well.

So the arguments against a State of Play broadcast in June are actually arguments for it happening. As long as Sony doesn’t schedule the next one for E3 week (or really, early June), they are in the clear and can actually benefit from State of Play next month. But I suppose the next, logical question is: what would Sony actually show at one? They’ve already gotten their smaller scale fare, such as Medievil, Blood and Truth, and Predator: Hunting Grounds out of the way. What’s left?

Presumably, they’ll want to spend some time having a blow out on their biggest and most anticipated upcoming games during this stream. This also aligns with word on the grapevine—after all, we have received plenty of hints from Hideo Kojima about a Death Stranding trailer coming within the next month, and (unsubstantiated) rumors about us getting a new look at The Last of Us Part 2 by E3.

Theoretically, Sony could have a 15 minute or so stream focused on just those two games (or, assuming the development of the game is coming along well, those two and Ghost of Tsushima), and still Are generate a lot of hype and anticipation among their fans—after all, The Last of Us Part 2 and Death Stranding are both among the top anticipated upcoming games across the board.

The obvious counterpoint is, if Sony was planning on having a show focusing on these games around E3 all along, why did they just… not do it at E3? They didn’t go to E3 because going to E3 brings an expectation of surprises and announcements (especially from Sony, who have cultivated that kind of expectation among their audience over the years), and if Sony were to be lacking those, then they would stoke discontent among their fans. Going to E3 also entails a budget for a stage show, plus the show floor, as well as planning a show around not just your own products, but any third parties who you may also want to feature as a platform-holder—these are all most, if not all, considerations that Sony can sidestep by not doing E3 proper, and just having their own stream, that they are in full control of, some other time that month.

State of Play brings with it lowered expectations from fans—they don’t expect a megaton announcement at one of these like they would at an E3 show—and without the baggage of those expectations, Sony can focus on just highlighting the games it wants to showcase.

In other words, a State of Play for June is not out of the question. It very well could happen, and if it were to happen, it might be full-fledged blow-by-blow updates on some of the most anticipated upcoming PlayStation exclusives.

This isn’t to say that it will happen, mind you. It’s probably still best to expect Sony to be completely quiet for most of the next month, if for no other reason than to avoid the potential for disappointment. But the possibility of a State of Play stream occurring next month is not as low as some might want you to believe. And if so, we might soon be seeing more of The Last of Us Part 2 and Death Stranding in good measure.

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.