PlayStation recap: State of Play underwhelms, Elden Ring delayed

October marks the beginning of a slow end to the year for PlayStation.

It’s that time again for another PlayStation recap. Last month saw huge news drop from PlayStation’s showcase, which announced a Knights of the Old Republic Remake alongside new Spider-Man and Wolverine games.

This month wasn’t quite as eventful, but no doubt still full of important news across PlayStation land. The company is making good on its promise to bring more exclusives to PC, and HBO’s The Last of Us continues to film in Calgary, with fans getting behind the scenes photos of the stars in action. All of that was topped of by a State of Play highlighting third-party games coming to PS5. With that all said, let’s jump in and see what happened in October.

PlayStation State of Play underwhelms

Thw latest State of Play was a bit of a dud. Running through everything announced, there’s nothing too noteworthy besides a new Bugsnax expansion and a new Star Ocean game. Those little Bugsnax aren’t so little anymore as the upcoming free DLC turns them into Bigsnax.

Elsewhere in the showcase, players got a longer look at Little Devil Inside, plus a release date announcement for Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach. I’m still definitely not going to play the latter. The former I might.

PS5 sales end 33-month streak from Nintendo Switch

With as difficult as it’s been to buy a PS5, you might as well be trying to dig up gold. Still, that hasn’t stopped over 13 million units from being sold globally since launch. The NPD Group has revealed that the PS5 even became the best-selling console in September 2021 in the U.S. based on units sold, ending a 33-month streak held by the Nintendo Switch. This shouldn’t be confused with dollar sales, which saw the PS5 already surpass the Switch (although that’s to be expected considering the huge price disparity between the two).

PS5 restocks are undoubtedly hard to come by, and gearing up for Black Friday may only make stock drops more infrequent as retailers stockpile consoles for a big rush.

Elden Ring (unsurprisingly) gets a short delay

The myth, the legend: Elden Ring. It’s weird to think it’s coming out early next year, but it’s unsurprising it won’t hit its initial January release date. Instead, FromSoftware’s next adventure is set to launch a month later on Feb. 25, just one week after Horizon Forbidden West. Early 2022, specifically February, is looking like an extremely packed window for AAA games.

No matter when Elden Ring comes out (let’s hope it doesn’t suffer another delay), it needs to meet some incredibly high fan expectations. Coming from the minds of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin, Elden Ring takes place in the fictional Lands Between and sees players embark on an adventure to restore the titular Elden Ring and defeat Queen Marika the Eternal and her progeny.

Alan Wake releases on PlayStation consoles for the first time

Alan Wake originally released as an Xbox 360 exclusive all the way in 2010, and it seemed that all hope was lost for a PlayStation release… until this month. With Alan Wake Remastered, Remedy finally brought the cult classic to PS4 and PS5. It may have taken over 10 years, but better late than never, as the kids say.

With such renewed interest in Alan Wake, especially after his Control expansion, this could pave the way for a proper sequel. Whatever Remedy decides to make, whether it be Alan Wake 2, Control 2, or something completely new, you can bet it’ll be just as weird and wonderful as its previous projects.

God of War is the next PlayStation exclusive to hit PC

Kratos is screaming in that picture because he’s so excited for God of War to hit PC in January. This follows PlayStation’s commitment to release more of its exclusives on PC. Titles like Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone have already made it to the platform, with Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection coming sometime in early 2022.

Sony Santa Monica also revealed that God of War (2018) had officially passed 19 million sales on PS4 and PS5, which is quite an impressive feat for a single-player game.

A sequel, titled God of War Ragnarok, is expected to launch in 2022. Christopher Judge, who plays Kratos, took to Twitter to shoulder the blame for its delay, stating that he had to have surgery in 2019 and Sony allowed him all of the time he needed to go through rehab.

Samsung’s 980 Pro SSD gets PS5-friendly model

Do you hear that? You wouldn’t because it’s the sweet sound of silence from your PS5. Its fans manage to keep it cool without sounding like a jet engine, but SSDs tend to increase the heat production, which is why Sony encourages anyone using an SSD to have a heatsink with it. Thankfully, Samsung’s 980 Pro is finally getting a PS5-friendly model with a heatsink attached.

The 980 Pro features sequential read/write speeds up to 7,000 and 5,100 MB/s, respectively. It can be bought in 1TB or 2TB capacities, ranging from $250 to $450. It’s certainly not cheap, but no SSD is at the moment.

Just be careful when you’re installing an SSD in your PS5. It’s not the most intuitive process out there, especially considering you need to take the PS5’s faceplate off. (But hey, maybe it’ll be a good time for you to buy a new PS5 faceplate cover).

The Last of Us filming continues in Calgary

Pedro Pascal (Joel), Bella Ramsey (Ellie) and Anna Torv (Tess) on the set of #TheLastofUs. pic.twitter.com/ok3GO5zh53

— The Last of Us Updates (@TheLastofUsNews) October 16, 2021

Filming on HBO’s The Last of Us TV series, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, began last month in Calgary. If photos from various sets are anything to go by, it’ll remain as faithful to the original experience as possible.

@TheLastofUsNews on Twitter has all of the updates anyone could ever want, and the fan page will continue to follow filming as it progresses. There’s new photos and videos added every day, so keep checking back for the latest information.

The Last of Us is expected to premiere sometime in 2022. According to a ComicBook.com interview with Gabriel Luna, who plays Tommy, it should debut “sooner than later.”

Bracing for the holidays

October wasn’t as lively as September on the PlayStation front, but we’re approaching a busy holiday season with third-party releases like Battlefield 2042, Skyrim Anniversary Edition, Call of Duty: Vanguard, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (wow, what a name), and more. PlayStation itself won’t have big exclusives drop until next year with Horizon Forbidden West. Good luck to anyone trying to buy a PS5 in the coming months. Just know that there’s plenty to look forward to in 2022 and beyond. Until next time ?

– Jennifer Locke