This Week's State Of Play Is Going To Be A Big One, And Here's Why

E3 season is here! Despite the fact this annual video game trade show died a slow yet inevitable death five long years ago, I still can’t help thinking of summer this way. All the sunshine means a bustling week when every major gaming company unleashes a flurry of exciting news and announcements to fill out the gaming calendar ahead.

Summer Game Fest and myriad surrounding events, both physical and digital, are helping to keep the E3 spirit alive, and that includes Sony’s upcoming State of Play. While Wolverine is set to headline and will take up a decent amount of its runtime, the rest of this hour-plus show is bound to contain updates on existing titles, some amazing new reveals, and if it knows ball, some surprises nobody will expect.

Here’s what we expect to see from this week’s State of Play, alongside a few predictions I’m somewhat confident will come true.

When Is This Week’s State Of Play?

State of Play will take place on Tuesday, June 2 at 2pm PT/5pm ET/11pm BST. You can see all the action unfold across PlayStation’s official YouTube and Twitch channels, and we’ll also be reporting on all the news and announcements as they happen here at TheGamer.

This show will also be playing in select cinemas across the United States, which feels like a pretty solid indicator that some big reveals are coming. The type of surprises that justify a massive screen experience rather than being witnessed from the comfort of an iPhone.

Insomniac’s Wolverine Is Going To Take The Spotlight

As one of PlayStation’s biggest - if only - exclusives set to launch this year, a lot of eyes are on Insomniac’s Wolverine right now. Poised to arrive this September, we can expect an avalanche of gameplay that goes much deeper than the initial reveal trailers ever did. While those provided a decent glimpse at combat and narrative, we are yet to receive an extensive glimpse at how many of these systems will actually work.

The jury is still out on whether it will go deeper than the massive leaks of the unfinished game.

I especially want to see how the moment-to-moment action and level design compares to the trio of Insomniac Spider-Man titles. All three of these are comprehensive open world titles, all designed to provide us with a nuanced web-slinging fantasy.

Miles and Peter don’t kill during their crime-fighting sprees across Manhattan, while Logan isn’t afraid to cut up any bad guys that dare look at him funny. I want to see how violent this combat can get and how the campaign that spans several globe-trotting locations will operate. It’s going to be a very different beast.

Naughty Dog Finally Gives Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet A Release Window

We haven’t heard a peek out of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet since it was revealed at The Game Awards back in 2024. Director Neil Druckmann has talked about it occasionally, while the cast also seems incredibly enthusiastic about the project, but as far as when it’s coming out or how it will play is concerned, we know absolutely nothing.

I want to learn more about what this game is about in terms of narrative beyond following a single character exploring a deadly alien planet, and how exactly it will compare to classics created by Naughty Dog in recent years. Well, somewhat recent. Naughty Dog is the best example of modern triple-A studios slowly down significantly in the quest for perfection.

It is going to have awfully high expectations, and I wouldn’t be surprised if players are hoping for it to set yet another benchmark for cinematic storytelling in video games. Give us some gameplay, give us some narrative details, and last of all, tell us when it may be coming out. I’ll take a year and nothing else at this point.

An Update On Sony Santa Monica And God of War

It has been almost four years since the release of God of War: Ragnarök, meaning the folks over at Sony Santa Monica have been working on something since that time. More specifically, what exactly has director Cory Barlog been up to?

Many are speculating that Kratos, Atreus, and company are going to be stepping foot into an all-new mythology now that everything in the Norse pantheon is safely squared away.

A spin-off game starring Faye as the protagonist has also been rumoured, so maybe we will see that as well?

Others reckon that Barlog has been hard at work on a new IP that will finally break cover at this week’s show. As exciting as it would be to see Kratos return and beat up a Sphinx or two, I would prefer something entirely new over another entry in a tried-and-tested franchise.

Make Way For Media Molecule

Speaking of studios that we haven’t heard a peep out of for several years, what on earth has Media Molecule been up to? Despite being incredibly ambitious and a profoundly impressive creative tool in its own right, Dreams didn’t set the world on fire when it launched in 2019.

Anyone who expected an experience on the same level as LittleBigPlanet was disappointed, while its creative tools had a much steeper learning curve that required patience and skill to truly master. This limited its audience from the jump, so it makes perfect sense to hear about recent reports that claim Media Molecule is working on something more traditional right now.

I would love to see something along the lines of Tearaway, the platformer where players are still encouraged by involved mechanics to unleash their creativity, but the gameplay doesn’t entirely rely upon it to pull people in. Putting aside everything it did so well, that’s why people walked away from Dreams without ever truly giving it a chance.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Reveals Its Third Entry

Square Enix has already confirmed that the final entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy will not be a PlayStation exclusive, but considering its history with the platform holder, I won’t be shocked if the game breaks cover at State of Play.

Perhaps we will bear witness to a reveal trailer that reveals its long-awaited title and overall ambitions before Summer Game Fest provides a glimpse at gameplay, characters, and the expanded open world. I have so many questions about this final chapter as I revisit Rebirth on the Switch 2 and Xbox, and with any luck, this reveal will answer some of them.

Resident Evil Code Veronica Finally Gets A Remake Announcement

Capcom has a habit of announcing Resident Evil titles during the Summer only for them to release early the following year. We saw it with 7, Village, remakes of 2, 3, and 4, and most recently with this year’s Requiem. It has a consistent development schedule and sticks to it.

It’s because of this that I think the rumoured Code Veronica remake is going to be revealed at this week’s State of Play with plenty of cutscenes, gameplay, and a 2027 release date to boot. This game is weird — perhaps more than any other Resi title before it — so I’m curious to see how Capcom reimagines characters and story elements for the modern universe. Will it be more serious, or stick with the obscene camp that Veronica is known for? Only time will tell...

A Live Service That Nobody Plays Will Show Up

I’m expecting Fairgames — the third-person multiplayer title first revealed during the PlayStation Showcase in 2023 — to make an appearance, and to potentially be rebranded as ‘Break In’ to match a recent copyright filing.

People will groan and roll their eyes as Sony continues to try and chase the live service dragon before it comes out, nobody plays it, and loads of devs get laid off. I’m willing to be proven wrong, but haven’t been so far.

PS VR 2 Will Continue To Hang On For Dear Life

Sony sent this peripheral out to die, but despite this, we still tend to see at least a couple of PS VR 2 titles appear during larger State of Play presentations, and I expect things to be no different this time. Throw in some new classics for PlayStation Plus for good measure.

What are you hoping to see from this week’s State of Play? Let us know your predictions in the comments below!