Sony has confirmed that its PlayStation Studios division, which is responsible for overseeing first-party development on PlayStation games, is currently working on more than 25 titles for the PlayStation 5.
Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, made the reveal during a larger Wired feature about the PS5. Additionally, Hulst stated that nearly half of these 25-plus games are entirely new intellectual properties (IPs).
It’s important to put this number into context, though, as PlayStation Studios is working on exclusive PS5 games from both AAA and indie studios. “There’s an incredible amount of variety originating from different regions,” Hulst told Wired. “Big, small, different genres.”
As it stands, we have an idea of what some of these PS5 games are. In particular, Guerilla’s Horizon Forbidden West is set to release this year on both PS5 and PS4, and Wired‘s feature gets more into the remote development work that’s gone into the game in the past year. Sony Santa Monica’s untitled God of War sequel is also still slated to come this year to PS5, although industry tipsters have cast doubt that this will happen.
Keep in mind as well that some studios that aren’t owned by Sony sometimes have their games released under the PlayStation Studios label as well, like Housemarque’s recent Returnal. In this regard, we know that PlayStation is publishing a new IP from Canadian gaming veteran Jade Raymond’s new Montreal studio.
It’s also important to note that Hulst’s statement doesn’t mean that there are only 25-odd PS5 exclusive games coming to PS5 — it just accounts for Sony’s first-party output. In particular, this figure doesn’t factor in the many third-party games that will have either full or timed exclusivity to PS5, such as Ember Labs’ Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and Final Fantasy XVI or Bethesda’s Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo.
Wired‘s feature also has some other tidbits on Sony’s larger PS5 efforts. On the subject of PS5 shortages, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan promised that Sony is “working as hard as we can to ameliorate that situation” going forward. “We see production ramping up over the summer and certainly into the second half of the year, and we would hope to see some sort of return to normality in terms of the balance between supply and demand during that period,” he said.
Later in the feature, Sony spokespeople told Wired that through the end of March, PS5 users spent 81 percent more time on the console than on the PS4 during its launch period of November 2013 to March 2014. Sony also says 11 percent more consoles have been sold during the PS5’s first five months compared to its predecessor.
Wired‘s full feature, which includes quotes from a number of key PlayStation figures and developer partners, can be found here.
