The wait was worth it. After months of rumors, speculation and delays, Sony finally unveiled the PS5's game lineup and design in a blistering one-hour showcase dubbed "The Future of Gaming." And Microsoft has some serious work to do if it plans on firing back next month.
Sony succeeded where Microsoft failed during its May 7 Xbox Series X gameplay reveal. Microsoft's event focused on third-party titles and small indie games, and was light on actual gameplay. Sony, on the other hand, started its PS5 showcase with some of its heaviest hitting exclusives, and didn't let up for more than an hour.
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Within the first 20 minutes of Sony's showcase, we saw long-awaited exclusives such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gran Turismo 7 and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. The show was chock full of great-looking third party games such as Godfall and Resident Evil Village. Sony ended things with a bang, with Horizon: Forbidden West, and the surprise reveal of the PS5 itself.
And while Microsoft's May event was a bit heavy on basic AAA games and off-kilter horror, Sony's PS5 show truly had something for everyone. We got kid-friendly fare like Sackboy! A Big Adventure, Bugsnax and Astro's Playroom, intriguing indies like Jett: The Far Shore and Goodbye Volcano High and big blockbusters like Hitman III and NBA 2K21.
Sony's The Future of Gaming show had all of the energy and excitement of the company's recent E3 presentations, even without a physical stage on which to present its latest games. That really puts the pressure on Microsoft, which is slated to answer back with a July event that will focus on Xbox exclusives, such as Halo Infinite and Hellblade 2.
Up until this point, Microsoft had me more excited about the Xbox Series X than I was for the PS5, thanks to its transparent messaging and its excellent platform built around flexibility and value. But all it took was the reveal of Spider-Man: Miles Morales to get me ready to buy a PS5 on day one. As always, with any console war, all that really matters is the game lineup.
We still have some questions about the PS5, including how much its standard and digital-only configurations will cost, and when the system will come out. But after that superb reveal event, I'm ready to smash that pre-order button on day one — and I imagine many other gamers are, too. And the ball is now in Microsoft's court to make fans feel the same about Xbox Series X.
