What you need to know
- PlayStation Studios says it has 25 titles in the works, including some new IP, and they're across genres.
- In an interview with Wired, CEO JIm Ryan reiterated that Sony is working on supply issues.
- Overall, the PS5 has been a huge success despite supply issues thanks in part to more time people are spending online during the pandemic.
It's been six months since the PS5 hit online markets (and a few store shelves), and things haven't gone quite as Sony wanted thanks to supply issues and numerous game delays. However, Sony has a lot to look forward to.
In an interview with Wired, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst said that the group has around 25 titles in development, nearly half of which are entirely new IP. This is even after delays due to the pandemic and the shift to working from home.
"There's an incredible amount of variety originating from different regions," Hulst said. "Big, small, different genres."
It's unclear if this refers to previously unannounced titles or if it includes upcoming games like Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which is due out in August. The game, developed by Ember Lab, noted to Wired that the game started out as just on the PS4, but Sony encouraged the developers to have it for the PS5, too.
"Our groundwork was on the PS4," Josh Grier, Ember Lab co-founder, said. "But looking at game two, focusing on taking advantage of the SSD and building mechanics and tools around that, will be really fun. I know for sure we haven't fully taken advantage of how actually fast it is."
However, the big question on everybody's minds is about PS5 stock, which has been volatile since release back in November. Anybody who's tried to purchase a PS5 likely found stock sold out in minutes, or even seconds). The low supply is due to supply chain issues concerning chips, which has affected the Xbox and the PC part market as well. While Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki recently said that the problem will continue into 2022, Xbox recently announced a Console Purchase Pilot program that seems to insinuate the problem will continue for years.
"We're working as hard as we can to ameliorate that situation," CEO Jim Ryan said. "We see production ramping up over the summer and certainly into the second half of the year, and we would hope to see some sort of return to normality in terms of the balance between supply and demand during that period."
Keep up to date on stock
It can be tough to get a PS5 right now, and that's bound to continue for months. However, you can sign up for stock alerts at retailers like Amazon to make sure you're the first to know about restocks.
