2021 was another stellar year for PlayStation, with a bunch of new trailers, announcements, as well as game releases for the PS5 and PS4. On top of that, PlayStation’s game pass PS Now has been consistently added to, and the library of games available with the subscription service is huge, taking in some big titles.
With so much going on, there were a lot of highlights this year for Sony’s gaming brand, moments where they managed to outshine the competition and get fans talking like never before. These moments are the reason why PlayStation remains one of the hot topics in gaming on the internet.
2021 marked the much-awaited return of the PlayStation-exclusive series, and many fans were happy to see the characters back. Even better, the game turned out to be one of PlayStation’s best games this year, proving the series hadn’t lost the magic that made the earlier titles so fun and memorable.
Though the PS5 has been out for over a year now, the addition of key exclusives like Ratchet and Clank boosts the appeal of the console that unfortunately still doesn’t have a huge library of games. It’s partly because of this that Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart‘s release was met with so much buzz.
Though some fans may have been disappointed that the game didn’t actually release this year due to Covid 19 and health issues suffered by Kratos’ voice actor Christopher Judge, Sony’s unveiling of the trailer to the upcoming sequel in September was perfectly timed to keep fans hyped.
The trailer dramatically mixed gameplay and cinematics, showing Kratos and Atreus in even tougher circumstances than gamers have seen them in before. The game is still slated for a late 2022 release, and whilst that seems like a long wait, fans of the series will consider it more than worth it if the sequel lives up to expectations.
PlayStation has continually been updating its subscription service for PS4, PS5, and PC games with new titles, and although some titles were also taken off the service, with The Witcher 3 in particular not lasting very long, there is more than enough gaming content to keep fans invested.
Some of the titles added this year that got fans excited included Celeste, God of War (2018), and Nier: Automata, providing some prime gaming experiences for users of the service. On top of that, PS Plus is still providing gamers with 2 or 3 free games each month as an alternative option.
The Spider-Man games are undoubtedly one of the biggest draws of PlayStation over its rivals, with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales released as one of the earliest titles on the PS5 to take advantage of it. Where PlayStation can really capitalize on the draw of the superhero’s games is with the release of this, a proper sequel to the first Spider-Man game for PS4.
The release is still a long way off, but PlayStation made the smart decision of releasing a showcase reveal trailer on YouTube that has earned over 17 million views. This became one of the most hyped moments of PlayStation’s year with fans already excited for the sequel.
Not to be outdone by Nintendo, who also won the internet at times this year with the cast reveal for the upcoming Mario Bros. film, PlayStation went even further, releasing a trailer for the movie adaptation of one of its most beloved properties. Similarly, the Uncharted film looks to have a star-studded cast to get fans talking, including Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.
The movie already looks to have the same level of thrills and over-the-top action as the PlayStation exclusive series, with the trailer showing off some of the insane stunts it will feature. Though it isn’t a new Uncharted game, this reveal was still one of the most exciting moments of the year for PlayStation.
Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the best games of 2017 for PlayStation and boasted one of the best open-world designs of the past 5 years. With its success has come a lot of rumors and expectations for the sequel to the visually stunning action RPG, especially after another installment was announced in 2020.
Its release has been delayed until next year, but PlayStation releasing a short gameplay showcase of the game was more than enough to bring a lot of fan attention back to the series. The gameplay features Aloy traversing incredibly beautiful and colorful landscapes, and it looks like the game may even outdo its predecessor for exploration and adventure.
Gran Turismo 6 is over 8 years old now and Gran Turismo Sport only does a little to fill in the gap left by one of the most prestigious titles in racing games, so PlayStation bringing the series back with Gran Turismo 7 was a welcome piece of news. PlayStation won the internet in a different way with the build-up to this release.
In order to build up hype for the new title, they have been steadily dropping small gameplay snippets and showcases, letting information about Gran Turismo 7 slowly get out. For fans of racing games and PlayStation fans in general, this has only increased excitement for the series’ upcoming return.
With the Marvel’s Spider-Man games already being one of the highlights of PlayStation’s games stable, it was interesting to see a short moment from the new Venom film uploaded to PlayStation’s official YouTube channel. Titled The Birth Of Carnage, the video was a PlayStation exclusive sneak peek of the soon-to-be-released (at the time) Venom sequel.
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Whilst some fans may have been genuinely fooled into thinking there was a Venom game on the way, and while that would be an even bigger win for PlayStation, the tie-in to the film was more than enough to get PlayStation fans excited about the new Venom movie, as well as the future possibilities for movie/video game tie-ins.
The core collection of Five Nights At Freddy’s games is already available for PS4 and other consoles, but the announcement that the recently released Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach would be on PS5 was a pleasant surprise. For PS5 owners who want to experience the horror in the new-gen console quality it deserves, there was a lot of reason to be excited about this announcement.
It was also a welcome addition to the PS5’s growing collection of horror titles, including Resident Evil: Village, which was also a huge release this year. The Capcom title is also available on other consoles, but these games featuring on PS5 is still a great thing for PlayStation.
Whilst the announcement was unveiled on the PlayStation YouYube channel in late 2020, that didn’t stop it from becoming one of the most-watched trailers of 2021 with a massive 27 million views. Without announcing anything concrete and the release date remaining set for next year, PlayStation managed to win the internet simply by leaving the trailer there and letting fans get excited on their own.
Not much is known about the title, except that it will be an open-world action RPG set in the Harry Potter universe. The website also gives a little more detail about the game and the direction it will take, and is another subtle way PlayStation has continued to stoke interest in the new title.
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