The new PS5 games drought is ending with Astro Bot and Concord, but no PS5 Pro (2024)

By now you’re probably well aware that 2024 has not been a vintage year for gaming. After 12 months of back-to-back blockbusters spanning from the ludicrously expansive Baldur’s Gate 3 to the comic book thrills of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Sony’s PlayStation 5 has been settling into middle-age with a more sedate release schedule. There’s been a glossed-up The Last of Us Part II remaster, the OTT sprawl of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth and a surprise smash hit in Helldivers 2, but summer is traditionally the moment when a bunch of big new titles get unveiled in one fell swoop.

Xbox has its latest Showcase on June 9 to talk about Call of Duty Black Ops 6 coming to Game Pass, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Starfield's Shattered Space DLC and plenty more besides. Fallout New Vegas 2, anyone? All of which means Sony has taken its chance to jump the gun with a new showcase for its plans for the rest of 2024… kind of. Although yesterday’s State of Play event did drop a couple of big new releases in the shape of Astro Bot and the Overwatch-esque Concord, there is likely going to be another PlayStation event later this year around its much-rumoured PS5 Pro console, which is expected to feature superior graphics, even faster loading speeds and several titles to showcase these new flourishes.

If you want to get gamers hyped about spending a lot of money on a mid-generation console refresh, it helps to have a lot of flashy new titles to go along with it. That’s why Sony’s first-party PS5 release slate still only extends to September with previously announced games such as Marvel’s Wolverine and the inevitably Ghost of Tsushima 2 remaining MIA. Here’s what to know about the new releases that are coming to tide you over for the meantime…

Astro Bot finally gets a sequel

Anyone who played the original Astro Bot Rescue Mission for PS VR or the Astro's Playroom tech demo for PS5 will already know about what is lowkey one of the most inventive platforming series out there right now. Stuffed to the brim with almost three decades of PlayStation nostalgia and dizzying uses for the DualSense controller, Astro Bot sees Sony’s most charming cartoon mascot since Crash Bandicoot get a full game to himself with 80 levels promised across six gleaming galaxies. Expect nods to God of War, Horizon and several more classic PlayStation franchises when the game drops on 6 September.

Silent Hill 2 remains an absolute hellscape

Although Capcom’s 2025-bound Monster Hunter Wilds was undoubtedly the most notable third-party drop from Sony’s State of Play, the immediate big-hitter is Konami’s Silent Hill 2 remake. Although initial trailers for the game had looked a little wonky, this survival horror classic seems to have polished up nicely over the last couple of months. Whether it’ll stand on par with the likes of Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 Remake or the Dead Space Remake remains to be seen, but for now we’re optimistic that the oppressive atmosphere and esoteric scares of the 2001 original will remain in place. Inevitably, Silent Hill 2 arrives on PS5 just ahead of Halloween on 8 October.

Concord is Sony’s next Helldivers

Sony has been chasing the online multiplayer dragon with mixed results of late. Destruction AllStars bombed so hard it was released for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers, The Last of Us Online was cancelled after years in the making and the brand's 2022 acquisition of Destiny makers Bungie has proved to be a work in progress so far.

Despite all of this, co-op shooter Helldivers 2 became Sony’s fastest-ever selling title when it released on PS5 and PC in February, and the newly unveiled Concord looks more hit than miss from what we’ve seen so far. Borrowing a lot of inspiration from Overwatch – hopefully the original, not its underwhelming sequel – this hero shooter features a roster of goofy characters, tight arena-based combat and an evolving narrative that’ll be told via weekly CGI vignettes. A beta is planned for this summer, while the game itself drops on August 23.

PS VR2 is a thing, again

Remember when Sony made a whole new PS VR2 headset and then didn’t release any of its own games for it beyond one Horizon spin-off? Wild times. Anyway, if you do have one of these headsets gathering dust there’s good news for you in the form of a new Alien: Rogue Incursion game. A spiritual sequel to the endlessly terrifying Alien: Isolation it looks horrendous in the best possible way and promises to arrive for the holidays off the back of the upcoming Alien: Romulus movie.

Also arriving before Christmas is Skydance’s Behemoth from the team behind the imperious The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, which seems to be pitched as “Skyrim in VR” and we’re absolutely fine with that. Why are these titles only arriving now for a two-year-old peripheral? Sometimes it’s best not to overthink these things. You’ll give yourself an aneurysm.