In 2019, Sony made some bold moves. It backed out of E3 2019, and started its own State of Play livestreams, ala Nintendo Direct. With the sun setting on the PlayStation 4, Sony also came out with some information on the aptly named next-gen console, the PlayStation 5. And while we adore a couple of its exclusives, it didn't come out with the blockbuster hits (though we can't expect that every year). In the video above, we dig into and discuss everything Sony and PlayStation related in 2019 and what it tells us about the future.
This year, Sony came out and detailed some of the upcoming features of the PS5. In an exclusive with Wired, Mark Cerny talked about load times being cut down significantly, ray tracing for lighting and shadows, and backward compatibility. What we learned about the PS5 this year has us excited for 2020, and that's very much the story of 2019: what the future holds.
Sony's game streaming service, that also has similar features to Xbox Game Pass, also made strides. PlayStation Now cut down its price and offered some marquee games as part of the subscriptions. You can directly download PS4 games and stream PS3 games via the cloud, and 2019 was a turning point for this, but we can't help but think of this as a pivot for a bigger push in 2020.
As far as exclusives, we had Days Gone, Judgment, and Death Stranding. Days Gone received middling reception, but Judgment was a great balance of new and familiar from the Yakuza team at RGG Studios. Death Stranding was divisive, though folks here at GameSpot have largely been receptive to its bold direction, and as high-profile AAA game from Kojima Productions.
With the PS5 just a year out, it's understandable that Sony has been relatively low-key for the PS4--we learned about the PS5, know more about The Last of Us Part 2, and are eagerly awaited what holds for the next generation.