PlayStation won't launch any "major" games in existing franchises this year

Don't expect new games in any of PlayStation's biggest existing franchises before the end of this financial year, Sony has said.

That means no new entry in the God of War or Marvel's Spider-Man franchises until at least April 2025, according to Sony president Hiroki Totoki.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, currently listed with a vague "2025" release date, will therefore launch later than March. Don't expect to see other big PlayStation properties such as Uncharted, The Last of Us, Ratchet & Clank or Horizon before then, either. It's also unclear where a potential Ghost of Tsushima sequel fits in.

For anyone keeping tabs on when we last saw some of these series, this news shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The studios behind these games are of course working on fresh projects, though in many cases it's too soon for us to be seeing their work released.

Of course, this doesn't rule out PC ports of existing games in these series, fresh IP from PlayStation such as multiplayer shooter Concord, or launches in some of its smaller franchises.

"Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing live service games," Totoki told investors in a call today (thanks, PushSquare).

"But while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarok or Marvel's Spider-Man 2."

In a presentation slide shown to investors, Sony stated that it expected software sales to "decrease, with no plan for release of major franchise titles" over the coming year, resulting in a "slight decrease" in first-party software profit. Sony also said it expected PlayStation 5 console sales to enter a "gradual decline".

However, Sony projects third-party software sales to see a "gradual expansion", alongside a growth in network services revenue (such as from PlayStation Plus subscriptions).

Sony's focus on third-party blockbusters for the rest of 2024 was clear in its recent PlayStation State of Play broadcasts that highlighted titles like Silent Hill 2, Dragon's Dogma 2 and BioShock creator Ken Levine's Judas. Sony then dedicated an entire show to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which is a PlayStation console exclusive.