Sony may have just scored a major coup with the gaming community with its first ever PlayStation Experience event this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Taking place on December 6 and 7, the event was an ideal spot for casual fans and hardcore gamers alike, with a number of new announcements in both the AAA and “indie” game markets, as well as streaming events throughout the weekend for those who couldn’t be in attendance on its official Twitch channel.
The big focus of the event was on Naughty Dog’s forthcoming sequel Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, the final chapter in the best-selling PlayStation game series. Over ten minutes of gameplay was featured in the presentation, featuring hero Nathan Drake once again battling the odds to stay alive. That footage can be found below.
Best of all, the event allowed Sony to gain some leverage over its competition with the next gaming year ahead. The company has secured exclusive console rights to Capcom’s forthcoming fighting game Street Fighter V, which serves as a major blow against Microsoft; and several other exclusive “indie” announcements should help sell PS4 units, including Shovel Knight, What Remains of Edith Finch and Bastion. Some free-to-play titles should also help boost its market value, including Kill Strain and the innovative Drawn To Death, which features a comic book-style artistic approach.
With the event’s success – and a contract to bring it back for the next four years to Las Vegas – Sony may have just solidifed its leadership in the console market by showing its devotion to its fans. More than that, Sony is providing a fresh new venue to debut news and announcements, outside of the usual circles of E3 and the Game Developers Conference. It may also prompt Microsoft and Nintendo to consider exclusive in-person events of their own, in order to get the word out about their own exclusive properties. That may put future trade events in question, but there’s no doubt that word-of-mouth would pick up around their respective communities.
For now, though, the PlayStation Experience was a huge success – and perhaps a good leap forward for Sony leading into the next gaming year.
