What We Expect From Sony’s First-Party Studios at E3 2015

On Monday, June 15 at exactly 6pm PT/9pm ET — you know, presuming there are no delays to the schedule — the neon-blue lights will go down in the Los Angeles Convention Center and Sony will take to the stage for its E3 2015 presentation. It’s an event that’s been on the lips of the PlayStation faithful for months, and now that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has been pushed to 2016, one question is looming large above all else: which headline announcement will fill the void left by Nathan Drake and Co.?

Please Be Excited

In the past, the Japanese juggernaut has been notoriously unpredictable; delegating an obscene amount of time to the divisive Wonderbook demo one year, before blowing the doors off with the PS4 price point the next. But what about Sony’s dormant first-party studios?

The likes of Sony Bend, Media Molecule and Japan Studio have all been relatively quite in recent times, and June 15 could act as the perfect opportunity for these companies to unveil in-development titles on gaming’s biggest stage.

They’ll be competing with third-party titles and Project Morpheus for the lion’s share of the limelight, given that Sony’s virtual reality headset is set to have a big showcase at this year’s trade show following the establishment of North West Studios.

projectmorpheusmarch20152

Moreover, third-party titles will no doubt be an important factor in a few weeks’ time, with the company even going so far as to say that No Man’s Sky has its full backing, promoting Hello Games’ ambitious space sim to a pseudo-exclusive in the eyes of PlayStation fans.

And while E3 is traditionally known for future-proofing a company’s slate, the play-it-right-now strategy may become more popular following last year’s Entwined. This time around, our money would be on Grasshopper Manufacture’s brutal brawler Let it Die hopping onto PlayStation Store in time for when the curtain falls on Sony’s presentation.

But if the publisher’s E3 2015 conference is to echo the success of recent years, it’ll need to call upon its first-party studios; the heavy-hitters that can serve up a memorable announcement with one fell swoop. The time is almost upon us.

So, let’s recount the Sony-owned studios that have been radio silent over the past few years and speculate what they could announce on June 15.

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