PlayStation's second state of play has been a huge improvement

By Jonathon Dornbush

PlayStation's second state-of-play showcase came out just six weeks after Sony launched the format. This presentation generated mixed reactions. But this quick turnaround between the episodes, combined with what Sony has presented this time, shows that Sony knew to have to make changes. There was still work to be done, but this second release undoubtedly improved the first and proved that Sony was listening to comments, paving the way for a lot of potential in the future state of play.

Although the first state of play has featured many games, fans have hit it for a variety of reasons. Interest in PlayStation VR titles, regardless of their appearance – including Falcon Age, already released, and Marvel's Iron Man VR – is only relevant to a small specific group of more than 90 million PS4 users. (While PSVR sales were plentiful during the holidays, one would have had to announce one at the end of this inventory to make potential buyers more likely to buy one.)

The first inventory left largely to smaller third games, launched in the coming months to take the spotlight, with Mortal Kombat 11 as a finalist. By the way, it lacked a list of major titles developed by the first parties, and even though Sony put forward Concrete Genie, the anticipation of this film was obviously much lower than that of The Last of Us Part II or Ghost of Tsushima.

It should be noted that Sony ignored E3 this year and PSX last year, as these larger games are not yet ready to air. But the first inventory had to make a sensation with something high to make it relevant, and that was not the case.

This second progress has come a long way, although it still has some way to go to make viewing mandatory by the majority of owners of PS4. From the outset, the initial announcement of Sony has tempered the expectations a little better than the first, noting that there would be no discussion on the next generation / PS5, and that we knew it would be brief.

But then, opening up with a look at Monster Hunter World's Iceborne expansion, after Monster Hunter World's incredible success in sales, provided an exciting start. But finishing with the massively awaited revelation of Final Fantasy 7 Remake really made us think. This was the kind of content we could expect, after years spent by Nintendo Direct in terms of out-of-the-box ads or important games highlights.

The pace between these two also helped. While the games shown between Monster Hunter and Final Fantasy were smaller in profile, showing them in quick succession without too much delay on too long was the right approach. The future state of the parts must find a better balance between the major, minor and average outputs, which Nintendo Direct has always enough nailed at the time of Nintendo Switch.

Currently, my biggest concern with State of Play is the lack of really specific PlayStation content that they emphasize. It's not like there's nothing to show: there are still headlines waiting, smaller games for the first party that could still use a little more press and new PSVR bundles.

But this second state of play has definitely shown PlayStation its concern to make these showcases more meaningful and has brought something great to the public who will continue to listen to them this year and beyond. The state of the PlayStation is indicative of these demonstrations, and it takes more DNA if Sony really wants to create a platform that highlights what makes the game on PlayStation also great.

Jonathon Dornbush is the news editor for IGN, the PlayStation Manager and Beyond! host. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.