Yesterday, PlayStation held their first State of Play of 2026, and it was an hour-long showcase with about thirty game announcements. There was a good mix of first and third-party games coming to the PlayStation 5, mostly in 2026.
There were plenty of games that we knew about last year, but it’s nice to get a real date — and not just a “coming next year.” I think it was right before a big State of Play that Sony announced for us not to get our hopes up for any PS Studios games releasing in 2025. Many of those 2026 titles are coming out in the next few months.
For this TOP FIVE I’m keeping it strictly to games I did not know about until yesterday’s State of Play. I’ll name some of the previously anticipated games in the Honorable Mention section below.
Here’s our PlayStation State of Play TOP FIVE:
TOP FIVE
1 | Kena: Scars of Kosmora
It’s wild how fast animation technology advances. I remember when Ember Labs first revealed Kena: Bridge of Spirits and that trailer had some ground-breaking visuals. Now, just five years later we’re getting a sequel, Kena: Scars of Kosmora,and I can’t believe how good this one looks. It’s like going back and watching the entire Toy Story movie franchise and noticing the little upgrades film-to-film.
I was so impressed with Ember Labs while playing Kena: Bridge of Spirits. They were an animation studio turned game studio and they came out swinging. There were some first-game hiccups, but overall it was quite the achievement. Ever since finishing that game I wondered, “What will this team do next?” It looks like they are going bigger with the sequel and I can’t wait to get my hands on it some time later this year.
2 | Project Windless
Project Windless is a new game based on the acclaimed Korean novel series, The Bird that Drinks Tears. The trailer showed off some sick cutscenes of battle between the bird and some tribespeople. Once it jumped into gameplay, there were some Dynasty Warriors vibes.
There were also some huge Epic war scenes, straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie. I always wanted to see this style of gameplay in a video game. We see it in cutscenes, but I want to be in the giant battle of two groups fighting for my life in a game — I’m sure that has happened before, I just haven’t played the right one.
I love this unstoppable “bird person.” Every giant army in the trailer also featured some giant beast to fight. You can annihilate these armies of regular-sized people, but now fight our giant ass beast. This game could be a long way out, especially with a name like “Project” Windless. Project anything is usually a working title. The Bird that Drinks Tears would be a pretty sick name?
3 | Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse
I grew up playing Castlevania. In fact, I still own my original NES Castlevania cartridge. I’ve purchased a few Castlevania retro collections across multiple consoles.
I love that Motion Twin and Evil Empire (creators of Dead Cells) are working on a new Castlevania game with Konami (creators of Castlevania). I could instantly feel the Castlevania influence in Dead Cells — one of their twenty-something DLC packs was even named, Return to Castlevania.
I just know this collaboration is going to lead to a very special game. I love when a smaller team creates something original that is heavily influenced by something they loved, only to get to work on that thing they love later on.
4 | John Wick
If you told me someone was making a John Wick action video game, I’d guess it was SloClap (makers of Sifu). Ever since playing Sifu, I thought, “This team has to work on a John Wick game next.” Mike Bithell created a John Wick game (John Wick Hex) which I haven’t played, but I know it was a different type of game than this.
I trust Saber Interactive to make a good John Wick game too, but I expected SloClap to get that contract — in the way that IO Interactive seems to be the perfect candidate for the upcoming 007: First Light (also featured in this State of Play).
From this trailer alone this game looks like it’s going to be great. We even got Keanu in the game. I just hope that this game feels as great as it looks in this trailer.
5 | God of War: Sons of Sparta
I wasn’t expecting to see Kratos show up in a brand new, indie developed 2D action platformer. Before I started my journey with Kratos and Atreus in 2016’s God of War, I played the remaster of God of War III. I remember liking it, but not thinking I needed to get into more of Kratos’s story. That’s until I saw the new direction they were taking this character in.
I’m always pushing for big name properties to allow smaller indie studios to create something different for them — mainly Marvel and Star Wars. I love the idea of God of War: Sons of Sparta. Where else can we take this franchise? Not just different lore or mythology, but also different game genres. It’s also nice to see Santa Monica Studio working with Mega Cat Studios. I talked to someone from the team before the release of WrestleQuest and I could tell they were excited about their projects.
There’s also a God of War Trilogy Remake in the works, but this was a great surprise. Plus, God of War: Sons of Sparta is available right now!
Honorable Mention
There were plenty of games that we’ve been waiting for since last year — Marathon, Resident Evil: Requiem, 4LOOP, Control Resonant, Star Wars: Galactic Racers, 007: First Light, Darwin’s Paradox, Saros, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and even more. These are mostly coming out pretty soon, which is nice to have so many games to look forward to.
I was very excited to see more of Mina the Hollower from Yacht Club Games, after it got delayed indefinitely. I played the demo for that last year and thought it felt pretty polished, but I’m happy it’s back on the radar and should be out this year.
The one other game that looked kind of different and was a brand new announcement was Yakoh Shinobi Ops. It’s a four-player co-op stealth game with a top-down feel. After playing Ghost of Yōtei later this year, I’m sure I will want more of this style of game.
There it is, my TOP FIVE and Honorable Mentions from yesterday’s PlayStation State of Play. If you missed the showcase, you can watch it right here.
Let me know what you’re most looking forward to from the State of Play below.
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