Hello everyone,

At Sloclap we felt it was high time to give an update on Sifu to the PlayStation community!

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Since our reveal in February’s State of Play, the team has been hard at work on Sifu. We were hoping to release the game by the end of 2021, but we now realize that in order to release a polished game, this won’t be possible before 2022.

The Covid crisis and the subsequent lockdowns have been a huge challenge for everyone, and although we were lucky enough not to face the important revenue losses that many businesses have gone through, the situation did create some real challenges for us. Since March 2020 we have had to adapt to changing regulations, switching the whole team to remote working while we continued our development work, and we lost some velocity as a consequence – remote working has its advantages, but losing daily informal interactions between team members can also be hard to manage.

We still felt earlier this year that we could make our original planned launch date, but as the deadline grew closer, it became clear that we wouldn’t be able to do so without putting the quality of the game at risk or creating huge pressure on the Sloclap team – and neither of these options were acceptable to us.

We’re very sorry about this delay – as gamers ourselves, we know how frustrating this can be, and as an independent studio, working multiple years on a single project, delaying a game can also create financial risks, so it’s certainly not a decision that we took lightly. But at the end of the day, our top priority is to make the best possible game, a hugely entertaining and polished experience, and we’d rather ask our fans to wait a little longer than planned than release something we’re not totally proud of.

Mastery through practice, or the art of getting back up and trying again

In today’s State of Play trailer, we wanted to give you a short glimpse of our aging mechanic in an all-new environment. Starting in a night club, our main character will soon find themselves in an underground fight club and will have to prevail through combat in order to reach their target. The progressive and subtle evolution of your surroundings as you get deeper into the hi

To celebrate the upcoming 2021 NBA Finals, PlayStation is proud to partner with the NBA to find the top scorers on the digital court in an NBA 2K21 online fan tournament tipping off later this week.  

The NBA 2K21 PlayStation Tournaments: NBA Finals will virtually mirror the teams facing each other in the 2021 NBA Finals, putting fans in the shoes of Phoenix Suns or Milwaukee Bucks  in NBA 2K21. There will be two separate tournaments for PS4 and PS5 players, giving our fans across both platforms the opportunity to take part and compete for prizes including a PlayStation 5 console, PS Store Credit, and other cash prizes.

Open qualifiers 

Starting now, PS4 and PS5 players based in the United States and Europe* can sign up for the NBA 2K21 PlayStation Tournaments: NBA Finals Qualifiers taking place on July 9. Find PS4 sign ups here, and PS5 sign ups here.

The winner of each free, single-elimination qualifier bracket will go head-to-head in the finals.  

Finals 

The NBA 2K21 PlayStation Tournaments: NBA Finals will take place on July 10, where players and spectators can expect fast-paced best-of-3 matches, all competing for the top spot. The finals matchup will be broadcasted live on the PlayStation Twitch and YouTube channels, so you can tune in for all the action.  

PS5 NBA Grand Final Prizes are:

• 1^st place: $500 Cash and 250 PS Store Credit
• 2^nd Place: 200 PS Store Credit
• 3^rd Place: 50 PS Store Credit

PS4 NBA Grand Final Prizes are:

• 1^st place: PS5 and 250 PS Store Credit
• 2^nd Place: 200 PS Store Credit
• 3^rd Place: 50 PS Store Credit

We look forward to seeing you on the court! Are you going to take part in the tournament? Let us know in the comments!

 *Active PS Plus membership required. Must be 16+ and a resident of an eligible country. Void where prohibited. See full rules for PS4 tournament and full rules for PS5 tournament. 

Hi everyone, I am Jehanne Rousseau, CEO and lead writer at Spiders. Today, we are very happy to finally unveil the gameplay of SteelRising, and to share with you the creative process that led us to this new project.

In the early production stages on SteelRising, we looked at our previous games, The Technomancer and GreedFall, to help define our vision. Our games have always included a mix of action and role playing elements, most often to fulfil combat and character/story purposes. But what if for this next game we focused and expanded on action in particular? This was our starting point: designing an action-RPG with a strong emphasis on fast-paced combat.

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The idea of playing as Aegis, an agile automaton, caught on quickly, and our next step was to define our setting. As a Paris-based studio, we have always been influenced by our European roots, and have always had a taste for the baroque, the strange, the eerie. After a few iterations, the pieces started to come together, and we set SteelRising in an alternate timeline based on the French Revolution of 1789. To tame the flames of revolution igniting Paris, King Louis XVI unleashes a deadly army of clockwork robots on the people. You are Aegis, a mysterious automaton, bodyguard to Queen Marie-Antoinette, and the Revolution’s last hope against a king gone mad.

Aegis was originally made to be a dancer, and wasn’t initially designed for combat. Considering each opponent you face is a literal killing machine, defeating them won’t be easy. You will have to make good use of your inherent grace, think fast, stay on your toes, and strike at the right moment to come out in one piece. You can also adapt Aegis to your own play style thanks to a flexible levelling system, and a wide variety of different weapons, each with their unique strengths and weaknesses.

If you have ever played a Souls-like, SteelRising will feel familiar to you. And this is one of the reasons why we wanted you to play as an automaton: Aegis is much more acrobatic than any human could be. She brings great agility and verticality to any fight. What’s more, throughout your adventure you will unlock various tools, opening new paths to explore as well as new gameplay possibilities during combat.

That’s a wrap for today, and while we still have some work ahead of us, we can’t wait to share more details with you about SteelRising, before it releases on PlayStation 5 in 2022.

We’ve seen Colt’s head-spinning powers in action before, but this Thursday we’ll get a nine-minute look at Deathloop’s time-twisted world as part of a new State of Play. The show kicks off at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 11pm CEST, viewable on Twitch or YouTube.

In this extended gameplay sequence, we’ll see Colt use his abilities to stealthily skulk across rooftops… or go in guns blazing to create a whole lot of mayhem. Lots of options available on Blackreef Island.

In addition to this long look at Bethesda’s violent adventure, we’ll have updates on some exciting indie and third-party titles. The full show clocks in around 30 minutes.

This showcase will not include updates on the next God of War, Horizon Forbidden West or the next generation of PlayStation VR. Stay tuned throughout the summer though, as we’ll have more updates soon.

See you Thursday!

There’s a robust lineup of games joining PlayStation Now this month. There’s a Western epic with Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, intense yokai action in the form of Nioh 2, while Judgment serves up a compelling psychological thriller. Enjoy cooperative hijinks with hilarious sim Moving Out, and give in to your competitive nature with both Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Nascar Heat 5. And also welcome back the acclaimed adventure of Kratos and Aterus as God of War returns to PlayStation Now.

*Phew*. It’s an epic month. Let’s find out more about what awaits you when all these games join PlayStation Now tomorrow, July 6.

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Red Dead Redemption 2

From the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a sprawling tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age. After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. Also included is Red Dead Online: forge your own path as you battle lawmen, outlaw gangs and ferocious wild animals to build a life on the American frontier.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PlayStation Now until November 1, 2021 exclusively via PS4/PS5 download.

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Nioh 2

Master the lethal arts of the samurai as a mysterious half-human, half-super

Last week, we asked you to return to Midgar and share daring moments from Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade using #PSshare #PSBlog. From intense battle shots to detailed portraits, here are this week’s highlights: 

Jake_Bellamy92 shares Cloud in the heat of battle.

TysonaterVA shares Yuffie holding up some Materia.

Anthonyisback33 shares Barret ready to fight.

DehDehPs5 shows Aerith unleashing some magic.

mnaxer shares Cloud standing through the fog.

BarryPaust shares Yuffie striking.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Summer

SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on July 7

This week, we’re heating up with the summer sun! From sun-drenched shores to clear skied nights, share places and moments that make you think of summer from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Welcome back! We’re opening up the ol’ Players’ Choice polls once again, and you’ll have until Monday to get your votes in before we tally them up next week.

June saw the release of delightful new adventures in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and the impossibly charming Chicory, plus the return of a long-running 2D fighter in Guilty Gear Strive. There’s also Doki Doki Literature Club Plus… something seems weird about that one, but I’m sure there’s nothing dark or sinister lurking under the surface there.

Which one is getting your vote this month? Let us know in the comments!

How does it work? At the end of every month, PlayStation.Blog will open a poll where you can vote for the best new game released that month. Soon thereafter, we’ll close the polls, tally your votes, and announce the winner at PlayStation.Blog. PlayStation Store will also showcase some top Players’ Choice winners throughout the year.

What is the voting criteria? That’s up to you! If you were only able to recommend one new release to a friend that month, which would it be? In keeping with our long tradition in the Game of the Year Awards, remastered or re-released games won’t qualify. Ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds and remakes like Shadow of the Colossus and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will.

How are nominees decided? The PlayStation.Blog and PlayStation Store editorial teams will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll. Write-in votes will be accepted.

What a year it’s been! As we approach the one-year anniversary of Ghost of Tsushima, we are so grateful for the outpouring of love you’ve sent us since launch. It means so much to see how Jin’s story has resonated with all of you, and we feel incredibly lucky to have such dedicated and supportive fans. 

We’ve thought a lot about how to expand Jin’s story, and we’ve also spent the last year poring over all of your feedback about how we could improve the experience of playing Ghost of Tsushima. We’ve been hard at work on a brand new edition of the game, which not only includes a new chapter in Jin’s journey, but also some new updates that are a direct response to some of the community’s most-requested features.

We’re happy to announce that on August 20, we’ll be releasing Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on both PS5 and PS4 consoles. This new edition comes packed not only with the original game and every piece of additional content we’ve sold to date, but a brand-new adventure for Jin alongside a bunch of new features that we’re excited to reveal.

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Iki Island

If you’re a history buff, you may know that in addition to Tsushima, the neighboring island of Iki was also invaded during this time period. Today we’re excited to reveal that a whole new chapter in Jin’s journey is coming and will take place on Iki. In this new story, Jin travels to the island to investigate rumors of a Mongol presence. But soon, he finds himself caught up in events with deeply personal stakes that will force him to relive some traumatic moments from his past.

We’ll have more to share about the story of Iki soon, but today we can confirm that beyond a whole new story and new characters, this new island also features tons of new content including brand new environments to explore, new armor for Jin as well as his horse, new mini-games, new techniques, new enemy types, and much more. There are even new animals to pet!

What a year it’s been! As we approach the one-year anniversary of Ghost of Tsushima, we are so grateful for the outpouring of love you’ve sent us since launch. It means so much to see how Jin’s story has resonated with all of you, and we feel incredibly lucky to have such dedicated and supportive fans. 

We’ve thought a lot about how to expand Jin’s story, and we’ve also spent the last year poring over all of your feedback about how we could improve the experience of playing Ghost of Tsushima. We’ve been hard at work on a brand new edition of the game, which not only includes a new chapter in Jin’s journey, but also some new updates that are a direct response to some of the community’s most-requested features.

We’re happy to announce that on August 20, we’ll be releasing Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on both PS5 and PS4 consoles. This new edition comes packed not only with the original game and every piece of additional content we’ve sold to date, but a brand-new adventure for Jin alongside a bunch of new features that we’re excited to reveal.

Play Video

Iki Island

If you’re a history buff, you may know that in addition to Tsushima, the neighboring island of Iki was also invaded during this time period. Today we’re excited to reveal that a whole new chapter in Jin’s journey is coming and will take place on Iki. In this new story, Jin travels to the island to investigate rumors of a Mongol presence. But soon, he finds himself caught up in events with deeply personal stakes that will force him to relive some traumatic moments from his past.

We’ll have more to share about the story of Iki soon, but today we can confirm that beyond a whole new story and new characters, this new island also features tons of new content including brand new environments to explore, new armor for Jin as well as his horse, new mini-games, new techniques, new enemy types, and much more. There are even ne

Bonjour! I am Jordi Asensio, Lead Game Designer on Streets of Rage 4. I worked on the game’s design system, character integration, level design, and game modes. Today I would like to introduce the new Survival mode, as well as the new characters that will be playable in our DLC, Mr. X Nightmare – available on July 15.

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Streets of Rage 4 developers offer an insightful walkthrough of Mr. X Nightmare’s Survival mode in a new episode of PlayStation Underground.

Introducing Streets of Rage 4’s Survival mode

We always wanted a Survival mode for Streets of Rage 4, but we decided to focus on the campaign first so as not to sidetrack production. It was a tough decision, but we knew it was the right one.

With the game released, we could focus on a post-launch expansion. I started poring over previous ideas we had as well as player feedback. I noticed that fans wanted, in addition to new content, new ways to play. So we tackled the challenge on two fronts: gameplay (characters and mechanics) and content (enemies, stages).

I also wanted to use this opportunity to inject a sense of power progression into our core gameplay experience , without overloading players with overelaborate RPG elements that’d negatively impact the game’s rhythm. That’s how the idea to use Perks came in.

We made sure that our first Perks were built on existing gameplay systems. This early batch was pretty simple: increasing the character’s strength, defense, and speed, and giving them weapons. We then added more unusual stuff – elementary effects (fire, thunder, poison). Once we moved forward with this concept, we added new ideas – for example, cursed Perks with both positive and negative effects. We also identified synergies between Perks to create surprising combinations. 

After this came months of testing and balancing.

Estel hits hard.

Facing the simulation

In Streets of Rage 4’s Survival mode, the player uses the remnants of Mister X’s brain to enter a simulation. This simulation produces waves of enemies in trap-filled arenas. After a wave is beaten, you can choose between two Perks that remain active during your entire run.

There’s no selectable difficulty. We instead designed runs around three phases: early, mid, and endgame. To pull this off, we worked diligently on the relationship between the difficulty cur