PS5 September showcase: all the news and trailers

Sony has finally revealed the design of its next-generation PlayStation VR2 headset, after it announced it in February 2021, showed off the controllers last March, and confirmed it would be called PlayStation VR2 in January.

The new design features a similar white-and-black color scheme as the PlayStation 5 (the company says the two products were designed with each other in mind), and while it features the same broad design as the original PS VR, the new model also brings a few enhancements, including a lens adjustment dial, a new vent design, and a slight reduction in weight. And similar to the PlayStation 5 and its DualSense controller, the PS VR2 has tiny textured PlayStation icons hidden on the front and back bands of the headset.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 is available now. Due to the pandemic and high demand for the PS5, retailers such as Best Buy and Target will only sell the console online for the foreseeable future. So, if you were planning to camp outside your local Target hoping to buy the console today, there will be no walk-in purchases available this year. But, you can order one online and request an in-store pickup.

Until we hear more information from retailers, I strongly advise you to keep a close eye on other popular retailers, including Amazon, Target, GameStop, Newegg, B&H Photo, and if you have a membership, Sam’s Club.

Sony ended its presentation Wednesday with the long-awaited price and release date for the PS5 — but stopped short of telling gamers when and where to buy one, until a tweet seemed to make things clearer: preorders would begin tomorrow on September 17th. Or so it seemed for an hour or two. Now, it’s become an utter mess.

Gamers across the globe raced to get their preorders in as retailers jumped the gun. Prospective customers were met with broken links, page time outs, and “out of stock” messages in the US and beyond. In the UK, for example, one Verge staffer managed to snag a PS5 Digital Edition in the three minutes the Amazon link was live and available to purchase.

When internet detectives revealed the PlayStation 5 was going to be huge, we were extremely amused — but even their fancy Photoshops couldn’t completely prepare us for how enormous the PS5 truly is.

Roughly half an hour after Sony finally revealed the next-gen console’s price and release date ($399 or $499, November 12th) the company released a full spec sheet that includes the console’s dimensions. And it’s a monster.

Alongside the reveal of the PlayStation 5’s $399 and $499 price tags and November 12th release date, Sony also announced how much the various accessories for the upcoming console will cost.

The most important price is that of Sony’s new DualSense controller, which will cost $69.99 for additional gamepads. That’s a $10 increase compared to the $59.99 MSRP for the DualShock 4 — apparently all the fancy haptic feedback technology and adaptive triggers that Sony is adding don’t come cheap. And the charging station, which can recharge two DualSense controllers at once, is set to cost $29.99.

Sony has confirmed its PlayStation 5 first-party launch lineup, as well as confirming some details around PS4 versions of its exclusive titles and how the transition from current-gen to next-gen will work. In a blog post published after revealing the price of both of its upcoming consoles (the standard for $499.99 and the digital edition without a disc drive for $399.99), Sony says it has six launch titles confirmed for the PS5 on November 12th.

Here’s the full list, including pricing and confirmation for the first time that Sony intends to raise the price on some exclusive titles by $10 to a max of $69.99:

Sony revealed the release date and price for its next-gen console, the PlayStation 5, alongside news of its launch titles and upcoming games. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, games from “our own Worldwide Studios titles will be priced from US$49.99 to US$69.99.”

Although not unexpected, the price point is a jump from the current era of consoles, which typically run about $60 for a new game. Launch day titles such as Bluepoint’s Demon’s Souls remake and Destruction All Stars will be the first to carry the new price point. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Mile Morales Ultimate Edition — another launch day title that acts as an expanded version of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales for $49.99 — will be available for $69.99 as well.

A week after Microsoft detailed the price and release date for both the Xbox Series X and the Series S, Sony has followed suit with a major PS5 showcase event. On Wednesday, Sony revealed not only how much the PS5 will cost and when it will launch, but also more details on the games coming to the next-gen platform.

If you missed the event live, here are all the major reveals.

Sony released the first gameplay from Bluepoint Games’ upcoming remake of Demon’s Souls. The video dropped today as part of the PlayStation 5’s event — but the original trailer has since been removed because of an apparent mistake. It claimed that the game would also be coming to PC, but Sony has now told Kotaku differently.

Demon’s Souls is a total remake of the original game from the studio that also worked on the PS4 remake of Shadow of The Colossus. The gameplay video features an encounter with the demon Vanguard, one of the first big challenges players will encounter. 

Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus Collection for PS5. Described as “a new PlayStation Plus benefit for PlayStation 5,” it’s a bundle of “generation-defining” PS4 games that you’ll be able to download at launch on the company’s new console. The games consist of first-party classics like Uncharted 4, God of War, The Last of Us: Remastered, Bloodborne, plus third-party titles like Batman Arkham Knight, Fallout 4, Mortal Kombat X, and more.

You’ll download and play these games directly — it’s not a streaming service — and Sony said the entire collection will be available when the PS5 launches on November 12th. The PlayStation Plus Collection should make for a decent way of padding out your game library in the launch period of PS5.

God of War is coming to the PlayStation 5 in 2021, Sony teased today, with the company announcing a next-gen sequel that’s due out next year.

The sequel to the 2018 PlayStation 4 title will once again be developed by Sony’s Santa Monica studio, and presumably will pick up the journey of Kratos and his son, Atreus, following the events of that game. If the end-credit teaser in the last game is anything to go by, the two will continue to battle against various gods and heroes of the Norse pantheon, including Thor.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, its next-generation game console without a Blu-ray disc drive, will cost $399.99, the company announced Wednesday as part of its PS5 price reveal live stream event.

That’s $100 less than the standard PS5, which Sony announced today would match Microsoft’s Xbox Series X at a price of $499.99. Still, that makes the PS5 Digital Edition $100 more than the less performant Xbox Series S.

Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 will cost $499.99 when it launches on November 12th, alongside the $399.99 Digital Edition. Preorders will begin on September 17th at “select retailers.”

The pricing puts Sony squarely up against Microsoft’s next-gen consoles, with the company set to release its entry-level Xbox Series S at $299 and its flagship Xbox Series X for $499 on November 10th.

Hogwarts Legacy is a new Harry Potter open world game releasing next year across all major platforms, Warner Bros. announced on Wednesday as part of Sony’s PlayStation 5 price reveal live stream event. The game, developed by Disney Infinity developer Avalanche Software, is set in the 1800s at the iconic Hogwarts from the book series, but given its time period it will not involve playing as the series’ titular character. Instead, the trailer gives the impression that players will create their own character and engage in all manner of wizard and witch-related activities.

In a press release, Warner Bros. describes the game as an “open-world, single-player, action role-playing video game set in the 1800s wizarding world,” where “players will experience life as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like never before, as they live the unwritten and embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world.” The release says players will “grow their magical abilities by mastering spells, brewing potions and taming fantastic beasts,” adding that the game will include familiar locations like the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade Village.

Sony has shown off its first gameplay demo for the upcoming Spider-Man: Miles Morales, along with a release date: it’ll launch alongside the PlayStation 5 on November 12th.

The game, set a year after the events of Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man title, will put players into the shoes of Miles Morales as the heroic web-slinger, complete with new abilities and powers.

Final Fantasy is heading to the PlayStation 5 with a new entry, Final Fantaxy XVI. The news was announced today during Sony’s console event with a brief teaser.

The trailer posted today teases a world in which “The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history for long enough” as part of the upcoming action RPG. Alongside its new fantasy setting, iconic figures from the series, from Chocobos to summons like Shiva, can be seen throughout. In a post from on the PlayStation Blog, producer Naoki Yoshida said the next big reveal for the game would take place in 2021.