A PlayStation State of Play may not have the buzz of a Nintendo Direct, but Sony’s sure trying. Thanks to the February 12, 2025 State of Play, we now have a slightly better look at what the next couple of months look like for the PS5’s release calendar—and even a little of what we can look forward to in 2026. After all, past March, most of the biggest games of 2025 still have to lock down a release day.
Unfortunately, the State of Play only provided a few of those answers. Sony’s 46-minute long presentation dished out a couple big announcements, and a couple of niche announcements which made specific groups of people very, very happy. Let’s dive into the biggest takeaways.
Returnal developer announces new game
Sony saved the State of Play’s biggest announcement for last. Returnal was one of the earliest PS5 exclusives when it released in 2021, a roguelike shooter which was incredibly well-received by critics and fans alike. But since Returnal‘s launch, we haven’t heard anything more from Helsinki-based developer Housemarque—until now.
Like its predecessor, SAROS is a science fiction game which promises to take a unique approach to the player character’s death, featuring “permanent progression systems, where every death reshapes the world while offering new upgrades to overcome challenges.” Otherwise, it’s an entirely new series, taking place on a planet “under the threat of an ominous eclipse.”
SAROS will be a PS5 exclusive upon its launch in 2026, although Returnal did eventually make its way to PC.
Borderlands 4 finally gets a release date
There’s been a slow drip of Borderlands 4 previews for months now. We got a big trailer at the Game Awards and everything. But as more tantalizing footage of Borderlands 4 piled up, one key piece of information was conspicuously missing: a release date more specific than “2025.”
In a relatively short one-minute trailer during the State of Play, we finally got an actual release date for Borderlands 4. The long-awaited looter shooter will come out on September 23, 2025. What’s more, sometime this spring, there will be a special State of Play entirely about Borderlands 4.
Snake Eater is out in August—and has monkeys
Speaking of announcements of release windows it feels like we’ve been waiting for ages for, the State of Play also gave us a release date for the highly anticipated remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. As leaked earlier, Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater will release on August 28, 2025.
Perhaps even more importantly, the end of the new trailer confirms that the “Snake vs. Monkey” minigame from the PlayStation 2 original will return in the remaster. For the uninitiated, it’s just as you’d expect from the footage: it’s a crossover with Ape Escape, where Snake has to capture a bunch of monkeys. Metal Gear Solid is good.
Surprise new Digimon action-RPG is out this year
For a certain subgroup of people, the Returnal developer’s new game was not the biggest new game announcement of the State of Play. It was the announcement of a new Digimon action-RPG, which completely blindsided people in the best way possible.
The last game in the Digimon Story series released in 2017, so Digimon Story: Time Stranger is eight years coming. Actually, the last Digimon game of any kind was released in 2022. No wonder fans are excited.
The game will see players raising a team of Digimon to “embark on an adventure that spans across worlds and even time itself.” Digimon Story: Time Stranger will release sometime in 2025.
New trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
Sonic Racing: CrossWords was technically announced with a teaser at the Game Awards in December. But Sega is claiming that the much longer, more in-depth trailer which aired during the State of Play is the “announce trailer.” Whether you want to say that CrossWorlds was “announced” yesterday or in December, the result is the same: it looks like absolute mayhem, and I want it.
The footage shown calls back to the absolute chaos of 2012’s Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The central mechanic of the game is that giant portals are plopped in the middle of tracks which immediately transport you to a completely different track, at a completely different location. Suddenly finding myself driving through an angry dinosaur’s legs to grab an item? Yes, please.
Plus, there will be instances when characters seemingly leave their vehicles and ride some kind of hoverboard, because why not? The game is “coming soon.”
Lies of P prequel DLC announced
Remember Lies of P, 2023’s surprisingly good South Korean soulslike inspired by Pinocchio? It’s coming back with a prequel DLC, Overture, which will show you what happened before the Puppet Frenzy and the base game’s opening.
But let’s be honest: for most of us, this is a reminder that Lies of P existed and is a game which looked interesting but which we never got around to playing. Maybe now we’ll play it.
In any case, the Overture DLC will release sometime in summer 2025.
A musou roguelite is announced and immediately released
Koei Tecmo’s Warrior games, also known as musou games, are a bit divisive. Some people find the games’ combat lacking in nuance. Others look forward to the unique catharsis of beating up hundreds of grunts at once.
For the latter camp, the State of Play had some excellent news. A new musou roguelite called Warriors: Abyss was not only announced yesterday, it was also released yesterday. The game’s trailer claims it can support “16,000,000,000 battle styles.” But to me, this is less important than going through hell while slashing literal waves of guys with a single sword.
Post-apocalyptic lady-King Arthur game announced
Every good showcase has at least one title which comes out of literal nowhere and grabs everyone’s attention. No one knew about Tides of Annihilation before it was announced yesterday at the State of Play. Now, I’m eagerly waiting for its release.
Tides of Annihilation immediately communicates that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of London. Simultaneously, it’s inspired by the legends of King Arthur. And your player character is a awesome lady-knight. The gameplay looks incredibly slick, with action like a mix of a FromSoft game and Devil May Cry.
Unfortunately, the trailer came with no release date. The game is merely “in development for the PS5.”
Published: Feb 13, 2025 9:39 PM UTC