Reaction: Some PS5 Fans Think SGF Showed Sony Losing Its Grip on Third-Parties

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I really enjoyed yesterday’s Summer Game Fest, especially as a PlayStation 5 owner. Combined with the recent State of Play presentation, it clearly showed how strong Sony is within the gaming industry.

It felt like almost every game shown at Geoff Keighley’s event will be available on the PS5. There were only a few exceptions, with 1666: Amsterdam being the most prominent – though it seems that game is just a smaller project with limited development resources. Surprisingly, even Guild Wars 3 is planned for the PS5!

It’s interesting that Resident Evil Veronica, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, and Stellar Blade: Blood Rain all chose to be revealed at SGF. While I thought the recent State of Play was good, including any of these games would have made it even better.

The situation has sparked a lot of online debate about whether Sony is starting to lose control over game developers who aren’t directly working for them, especially as more games are being released on multiple platforms.

All of these games will be available on the PS5 – none of them are being left out for Sony’s console. While Stellar Blade: BLOOD RAIN hasn’t been officially announced for any platforms yet, the trailer showed PlayStation controls, so it’s highly unlikely the developers at Shift Up would skip the system where they first gained popularity.

The issue isn’t that these games are avoiding PlayStation consoles, but rather that PlayStation isn’t where these games are first announced anymore.

A quick look at the PS Blog illustrates the kind of discourse taking place.

As a PlayStation fan, the State of Play felt a little different this time. It honestly seemed like Sony isn’t working quite as closely with other game publishers as they used to. I remember when games from these same companies would have been highlighted during PlayStation’s own showcase events, and it felt like something was missing this time around.

Someone else pointed out that Capcom seems to be avoiding consoles, believing they’re no longer valuable, and that this is because Sony has weakened its position as a leading brand.

It’s interesting to watch people’s reactions, and I’ve noticed the same thing happening on the ResetEra forums.

Someone pointed out the odd timing of recent game announcements: a new Resident Evil, Final Fantasy 7, and Stellar Blade were all revealed at a Geoff Keighley event only three days after PlayStation’s own presentation. They jokingly questioned if this situation made any sense.

While this is worth talking about, it’s unclear how significant it really is.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, for example, was never going to be announced by Sony.

As a fan, I’ve been hearing for a while now that Square Enix really wants the next Final Fantasy VII Remake game to be available on multiple platforms right from the start. Knowing that, it would have been crazy for them to let PlayStation exclusively advertise it with PS5 branding – they’ve been so clear about not wanting that!

I’m not sure how much of a boost this will give the series, but I suspect Revelation will simply spread its sales across different platforms rather than attracting a significantly larger audience than Rebirth did. Only time will reveal if my prediction is off.

Regarding Resident Evil Veronica, I believe the reason it wasn’t announced with other games simply comes down to timing and agreements with publishers. Sony has announced Resident Evil games before, they just didn’t choose to reveal this particular one. I don’t think it’s a significant issue.

Stellar Blade: BLOOD RAIN benefited from Sony’s marketing power, particularly in Western markets, to build recognition for Shift Up. Now that the game has established itself, that partnership has likely run its course. It’s likely we won’t see another new game for several years.

I’m also curious about how much Sony has invested in GTA 6 this year. Rockstar Games operates on its own schedule and doesn’t rely on events like State of Play or Summer Game Fest to promote their games.

If PlayStation is spending a significant portion of the game’s marketing money to prominently feature PS5 branding in ads and promotions, they might have less funding available for promoting other games. This could explain why game publishers are choosing to announce their new titles on different platforms.

The PlayStation 5’s popularity might actually be causing some of these issues. It’s the leading platform for major game series like Resident Evil and Final Fantasy, so demand is very high.

That’s likely why publishers like SEGA have been announcing games on Xbox recently. They know fans on PlayStation 5 will always buy Yakuza and Persona games, so they’re trying to attract new players on other platforms to expand their audience.

There’s usually a reason behind these things, but as long as game publishers are still making games for the PlayStation 5, it doesn’t really matter where they reveal those games.

It’s a curious detail from this week’s Summer Game Fest and State of Play, but I believe people are reading too much into it.

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2026-06-06 20:08