Solid Xbox Showcase Should Give Sony Some Incentive to Stop Being So Damn Cloak and Daggers About PS5, PS4 | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

The curtain has closed on what was, in this author’s partially informed opinion, probably the strongest Xbox Showcase in recent memory. This wasn’t a total knockout on par with some of PlayStation’s best ever E3 presentations – is such a thing even possible now we’ve effectively transitioned from live audiences to trailer montages? – but it was very, very good, filled with an eclectic selection of both first-party and third-party titles, across a spectrum of different genres and themes.

Perhaps most surprising about this presentation was the sheer strength of its third-party content: Sony has historically done an incredible job of signing marketing deals with the industry’s biggest names, but Microsoft brought the heat with a selection of major, traditionally PlayStation-centric series, like Persona 3 Reload and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The strategy from the Redmond firm’s outreach team appears laser targeted at titles with historic Sony association, which makes sense.

Elsewhere, while trailers for Clockwork Revolution and South of Midnight lacked substance, it’s clear that Microsoft’s substantial investment into acquisitions is slowly beginning to bear fruit. There were a lot of first-party games in the livestream, including Fable, Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga, and Avowed. Some will point to the lack of meaningful release windows outside of Starfield and Forza Motorsport, but that doesn’t mean their presence should be ignored.

And all of this after an underwhelming PS Showcase which left Sony’s roadmap of PS5 exclusives looking a uncharacteristically light. We know that it’s partnered with Square Enix to secure console exclusivity for Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but outside of those two there’s