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PlayStation Recap: Marvel games and hardware updates highlight September

PlayStation showcased an impressive roadmap that left us with more questions than answers.

Welcome to Android Central's newest PlayStation recap. In an effort to bring our readers all of the latest PlayStation news in one place, we'll be compiling everything that happened throughout the month in PlayStation land, from exclusive game releases to the biggest announcements in the industry, along with any notable happenings in the community. September 2021 was headlined with a massive PlayStation Showcase that gave us a look at the years ahead for the PS5, but that's not the only thing that happened this month. Let's dive in and check everything out.

PlayStation held an outstanding showcase

When Sony announced that it was holding a PlayStation Showcase, the community immediately perked up. Not calling it a regular State of Play set expectations high, and those expectations were met in almost every way. With Sony being a no-show at E3 and Gamescom, it had yet to hold a showcase of its own until this month. What PlayStation had in store for us may have been the best showcase of the year, with unexpected announcements and reveals that had social media on fire.

I'll get into more of these announcements below, but you can watch the entire 40-minute showcase on YouTube.

Insomniac revealed Spider-Man 2 with Venom

It's been a long time coming and Insomniac knew it had to nail the reveal. The success of Marvel's Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales set a high bar for the eventual sequel. When Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was revealed on Sony's stage, it had everyone talking as Venom took center stage.

Venom's been a popular character for a while now, especially with the recent Tom Hardy movies. Everyone hoped that Venom would make an appearance after the ending to Insomniac's first Spider-Man game, though who he is remains a mystery. Harry Osborn was seen in a stasis pod surrounded by what looked to be Venom's signature black webbed symbiote, but Venom has historically been Eddie Brock, while Harry takes on the mantle of the Green Goblin.

Whatever Insomniac has in store for us, we'll find out when Marvel's Spider-Man 2 launches exclusively on PS5 in 2023.

Insomniac unveiled a new Wolverine game

Not one to rest on its laurels, Insomniac revealed another Marvel game that surprised everyone. It was a short teaser set after a pretty gnarly bar fight, and when the claws came out at the end, everyone went wild. Marvel's Wolverine is in development at Insomniac with an unspecified release date.

As it's still very early in development, there aren't too many details regarding it yet. What we do know is that it will have a mature tone and be exclusive to the PS5.

Here's a live look at Insomniac right now.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is coming back

Sony opened up its showcase confirming the existence of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake, and I'm pretty sure my (and everyone else's) screams could be heard around the world. Fans have been asking for years for this beloved and legendary classic to be remade, but some never thought it would actually happen. As soon as Lucasfilm Games and Aspyr's logos popped up on-screen, fans knew exactly what to expect.

"Peace is a lie. That is what the Sith believe. They promise power. Now they wield it. We face the greatest Sith in generations. They must be stopped," is what the narrator says shortly before Darth Revan is revealed in the remake's trailer, sending chills down the spines of Star Wars fans everywhere.

In an interesting turn of events, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake will be PS5 console exclusive, with no word on any potential Xbox release. It's also set to come to PC.

God of War Ragnarok was officially titled with a new trailer

We can finally put to bed the rumor that God of War Ragnarok wouldn't be called God of War Ragnarok. It is. We also received our first good look at the game, and we even have some God of War Ragnarok story and character theories based on what we've seen. As Fimbulwinter begins and Ragnarok approaches, Kratos and Atreus must fight against time to stop it, all the while battling Thor and Freya, vengeful after the deaths of their sons.

Ragnarok is set to be the end of the Norse chapter in God of War, so fans would be looking at a high body count by the time the credits roll. If it's anything like God of War from 2018, we could be looking at one of the best PS5 games ever to release. It's currently expected to hit PS5 sometime in 2022, but with one delay already in the books, anything could happen.

PlayStation acquired another studio that isn't Bluepoint

It's that time again when PlayStation announces another studio acquisition. This time the company revealed it had purchased Firesprite, a UK team that previously worked on VR titles. It's currently hiring for a multiplayer shooter and a "dark narrative blockbuster," and it also recently bought Fabrik Games, which has collaborated with Firesprite in the past.

It's been 84 years and PlayStation finally acquired Bluepoint

Would you look at that. PlayStation has "surprised" everyone and announced its acquisition of Bluepoint Games, the developer behind the Demon's Souls remake. The studio is apparently working on an original title for PS5. In honor of me having written this article before the announcement was made, here's a sneak peek at the excerpt I had included above in Firesprite's section.

When will we finally get an official announcement about Bluepoint Games' acquisition? Who knows. Bluepoint seems adamant to note that it's independent, but PlayStation Japan appeared to leak its acquisition with an official graphic. It's been rumored for months now, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

Maybe I could have held my breath after all.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say, thank you, Sony, for finally officially announcing this. Even if I had to go back rewrite part of this recap in the 11th hour before publication.

PS5 users can now add internal SSDs

The PS5 launching without expanded storage support for PS5 games was a huge blunder on Sony's part. It's something fans have been asking for for months, and it was finally released in beta over the summer. On September 14, PlayStation announced that the feature had left beta and was available for everyone.

Sony's SSD requirements are interesting, to say the least, but models like the Seagate FireCuda 530 and WD SN850 have been confirmed to work. PlayStation architect Mark Cerny notably purchased the latter SSD for the PS5 in his household.

Taking a look at the list of the best SSDs for PS5, you have a few options available. Just make sure you have a heatsink and you should be good to go. Also, make sure you don't break the PS5 faceplate when you pull it off, because Sony did not make the process easy.

PS4 Update 9.00 breaks and fixes the system

Just because the PS5 is out doesn't mean that the PS4 will stop receiving firmware updates. Even at over 10 million units sold, PS5 restocks are hard to come by. When Sony dropped Update 9.00 for the PS4, it was supposed to update a few simple features. Instead, players reported that it bricked their consoles and caused errors. This isn't the first time a PlayStation firmware update has done that, and I'd wager it won't be the last.

On the bright side, Update 9.00 also appears to have fixed its dead battery issue where the CMOS battery would prevent players from accessing their games and content offline after it died. Sony didn't advertise that this was fixed, but it also never acknowledged the issue in the first place.

Deathloop launches to rave reviews

Arkane's latest project sees players stuck in a time loop, tasked with killing eight targets before the day is over to break the loop once and for all. Despite now being a first-party studio under Xbox, Deathloop was announced before the acquisition took place as a PS5 console exclusive. For anyone who overlooked Dishonored or Prey, it seems that Deathloop struck a chord, becoming a highly acclaimed game right after its release.

Hopefully, this means Arkane's next game, Redfall, is another masterpiece as well. However, that one will only be coming to Xbox consoles and PC.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits found itself subject to some trolling

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a charming indie game that players seem to almost universally love, but shortly before its launch, it found itself the target of trolls on social media. After it came out that review codes were only given to a select number of outlets and reviews would be embargoed for when the game was released, many took this as a sign that the game was terrible. Someone even went so far as to create a fake IGN review giving it a 4/10. (For the record, IGN gave it an 8/10).

As it turns out, all of those worries were unwarranted. It's a good game that you should play for yourself.

Pedro Pascal reveals the first image from HBO's The Last of Us

The Last of Us Day almost came and went without a major announcement, but leave it to Pedro Pascal to squeak one in before the day ended. Pascal revealed the first official image from HBO's The Last of Us television series, which is written by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. Standing next to Pascal as Joel, we see Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Both are looking off into the distance at a crashed plane.

Fans have already pointed out the show's apparent attention to detail in Joel's backpack, with similar straps and markings found all over it.

With filming having begun, HBO expects the series to premiere sometime in 2022. However, don't expect it to be a one-to-one copy of the game because despite being incredibly faithful to its source material, it's also set to contain a few surprises.

Let's see what October holds

As you can tell, PlayStation had quite an eventful month. Though its next big release is Horizon Forbidden West in February, who knows what the company may reveal in October. Regardless, the months and years ahead look exciting for the brand.

– Jennifer Locke


by Jennifer Locke