Hey, everybody! Sid and Tim are back this week to discuss trying to survive the long nights of Elden Ring Nightreign and celebrate the 30th State of Play while going over their favorite reveals.
Stuff We Talked About
Next week’s release highlights:
Deltarune: Chapter 3 & 4 (out now) | PS5, PS4
Zombie Army VR | PS VR2
Five Nights At Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic | PS5
The Alters | PS5
Splitgate 2 | PS5
Alien Hominid Invasion | PS5, PS4
The Witcher IV — Unreal Engine 5 tech demo on PS5 showcases Ciri and a new world
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate — Hands-on with new abilities awaiting Guardians on the planet Kepler
Gran Turismo World Series — Round one of the competition takes place in London this weekend
Rematch — Hands-on impressions from the second open beta and interview with Sloclap devs
Helldivers 2 — New Force of Law Warbond launching June 12
State of Play — Check out the full rundown of reveals at PlayStation Blog
The Cast
Download the image
Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE
Thanks to Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.
[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
ralston_vpshares Clive standing in front of a slate gray portal in Final Fantasy XVI.
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THEME: Stealth
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on June 11, 2025
Next week, take to the shadows and share sneaking, stealthy moments and characters from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Genshin Impact Version 5.7 arrives with Skirk on June 18 https://ift.tt/v2XDPWy
The Genshin Impact dev team is back with fresh details on Version 5.7, “A Space and Time for You,” dropping June 18. In this update, the Traveler’s sibling will continue to advance their grand plan. As the Traveler unites their allies to confront the Abyss Order in Natlan, more hidden truths about Teyvat will gradually come to light, marking a pivotal turning point in the story.
Meanwhile, two familiar faces from the main story — Skirk and Dahlia — will also become playable characters. As a skilled sword master, Skirk fights without relying on Elemental Energy, dominating in extended battles or with sudden bursts of damage!
While tensions run high in the Archon Quest, there will also be time to enjoy some lighter moments. Test your tactical thinking in a simulated adventure game, reunite with old friends in the next chapter of Travelers’ Tales, and take on challenges in a new permanent combat mode.
You, within reach, yet worlds apart
The chasm between the Traveler and their sibling remains — their silence hangs like thin ice, fragile yet unbroken. Though their bond persists, the road to reunion stays shrouded in fate’s mist.
With the Loom of Fate complete, their sibling’s grand scheme advances relentlessly. Natlan now faces a full-scale Abyss Order invasion, and its tribes unite and fight under Mavuika’s fiery leadership. Dainsleif reappears, wielding mysterious powers to aid the Traveler. Meanwhile, deep in Natlan’s caverns, an enigmatic girl waits in the shadows…
What secrets drive their sibling’s grand design? What meaning hides behind each reunion and parting? The truth awaits in the new Archon Quest — not as answers to be uncovered, but as a path to be walked.
An ode to the aloof warrior and reliable protector
As the story turns its page, two familiar faces make their return. Skirk, whose icy demeanor matches her frosty blade, and Dahlia, lively and mischievous as a babbling brook, will officially join the playable roster. Though their personalities differ greatly, both are reliable allies with unique combat styles.
Skirk is a 5-star sword wielder who commands Abyssal power disguised as Cryo. Mysterious and aloof, she’s not only Childe’s master, but also once trained under one of the Five Sinners of Khaenri’ah, “The Foul” Surtalogi — said to wield power that could rival the world itself. Her strength is beyond question, yet her past remains buried in silence, like a tale frozen in time, waiting to be broken free from the ice. In her Story Quest, Travelers will encounter Skirk in Liyue, where fragments of her long-lost memories begin to emerge.
In combat, Skirk forgoes the conventional Elemental Energy system, instead using a unique resource known as “Serpent’s Subtlety.” Serpent’s Subtlety can be obtained by absorbing Void Rifts, which appear on the field when your party triggers Frozen, Superconduct, Cryo Swirl, or Cryo Crystallize reactions. Up to three Void Rifts can exist at once, and Skirk can absorb them to gain Serpent’s Subtlety. Skirk fights with two distinct combat styles, enabling her to either maintain relentless pressure through continuous attacks or unleash devastating bursts of damage.
To boost her on-field damage, Skirk can enter a special mode that enhances her Normal Attack DMG. After tapping her Elemental Skill, she enters this mode and can further boost her Normal Attack DMG by unleashing a special Elemental Burst. While in this mode, using Charged Attacks or her special Elemental Burst to absorb nearby Void Rifts grants additional Normal Attack DMG bonuses.
In her burst damage fighting style, Skirk relies on quickly accumulating resources to unleash her powerful Elemental Burst. Holding her Elemental Skill allows her to move swiftly, and even sprint across water, while absorbing nearby Void Rifts to rapidly build up Serpent’s Subtlety. With enough Serpent’s Subtlety accumulated, she can unleash her Elemental Burst, dealing high AoE Cryo DMG in an instant.
Skirk shows even greater potential when teamed up with Hydro or Cryo characters. When the team deals Hydro or Cryo DMG, Skirk gains bonus DMG. Additionally, if all party members are either Hydro or Cryo and if there is at least 1 Hydro and 1 Cryo character, all your characters in the team will have their Elemental Skill levels increased by 1.
The other new playable character, Dahlia, is the dependable deacon of the Church of Favonius and a 4-star Hydro sword wielder who protects his party members with his Shield of Sacred Favor. This shield is initially created by Dahlia’s Elemental Burst and scales based on his Max HP. After casting his Elemental Burst, the shield can be refreshed either by landing Normal Attacks with the active character or by triggering the Frozen reaction. Dahlia’s Elemental Skill summons a Sacramental Shower, which can bounce allies into the air to help them dodge attacks and gain an aerial advantage. When enemies come into contact with it, the Sacramental Shower instead explodes, dealing AoE Hydro DMG.
In Version 5.7 Event Wishes, Skirk and Dahlia both debut along with Shenhe’s rerun in the first half of the version, while the latter half will see the reruns of Mavuika and Emilie.
Fun awaits — from chill activities to serious challenges
After diving into intense combat, why not wind down with something more relaxing and fun?
The Sumeru Akademiya has launched a new simulated adventure that puts both your capabilities and luck to the test. Travelers will pick from different Companion Pieces to form teams, power them up, and take on a variety of enemies in a board game-style battlefield. You can choose between the rainforest or desert route — each with its own story and level of difficulty. Unexpected encounters along the way will make the journey all the more exciting. Beyond the combat stages, there are also “research stages” where you’ll guide Paimon to gather fruit. Doing so boosts your Speculation Level and unlocks extra bonuses for your team. Complete the challenges and you’ll not only earn Primogems and other rewards, but also have the chance to invite Sethos to your party.
A familiar breeze brings new stories from old friends. In Travelers’ Tales: Gilded Chapter, you can enjoy cozy moments all across Teyvat. Thoma returns to his hometown in Mondstadt, Neuvillette pays a visit to Merusea Village, and Dori is spotted in Inazuma trying to sell something to Sayu. On your travels, don’t forget to slow down now and then to check in on some old friends!
In addition, this update introduces a new permanent gameplay mode, Stygian Onslaught. Participating in the event will reward Travelers with Primogems, Artifacts, and valuable items for targeted Artifact enhancement. Each update will bring a new challenge with three phases and five difficulty levels. Clear Level 5 to unlock an exclusive solo-only Level 6 difficulty, where the battle is sure to be even more challenging.
There’s still plenty more to explore in Version 5.7 — but we’ll leave a few surprises for you to discover on your own. We hope Skirk and her story bring you a bold, new experience that’s as fresh as it is thrilling!
Survival climber Cairn ascends to PS5 November 5 https://ift.tt/al4LxbH
We’re happy to confirm that survival-climber Cairn will release on PS5 November, 5 2025. You can attempt your first ascent with Aava today, as a demo is available now on PS5! Go and hone your climbing skills on the Tenzen mountain ridge before the ascent of unforgiving Mount Kami.
It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves
A cairn is a stack of stones piled up to mark a trail or as a memorial. It’s a very good representation of the idea “I made it this far”.
In Cairn, our survival climbing game, you will need determination and persistence to “make it this far”. When we decided to make a video game about alpinism, we were fascinated by the dedication and resolve shown by climbers. They are ready to risk everything because of how extraordinary it makes them feel: extremely satisfied and free. And that’s the emotion we wanted to replicate and make you feel, as a player.
We spent 3 years of research and development to create our own way to climb. It’s completely unique and new. You’ve climbed already in video games, but most games use climbing as a traversal mechanic, to reach a different location. In Cairn, climbing is the actual challenge, it’s where you fail or succeed. It’s what will make your hands sweat.
The pillars of our climbing gameplay are what make it unique: a simple yet deep climbing control, and total freedom to climb anywhere.
Easy to learn, hard to ma…ouch! my finger!
First, it is simple to climb. We made a deep simulation gameplay while keeping simple inputs. In Cairn you control each hand and feet individually, but with just the left stick and one button to grab the wall. Ninety percent of the inputs you make are just moving the left stick and pressing Square. Feels simple right? So does Gran Turismo when you steer and accelerate with the same two inputs, but yet you’ll be practicing for hours to improve your lap time by 3 seconds. In Cairn the challenge is not about the controls of the limbs, it’s about placing them tactically, and keeping your character in balance.
We worked on an advanced movement system that makes your character move like a climber according to what you aim for with your hand or foot. The simulation calculates the body mechanic, but also the efforts, and your character gets tired and out of breath in consequence.
The result is a very strong immersion: you only look at your character, listen to their breathing, feel their limbs shaking directly on your hands with the precise Dualsense controller vibrations. There is no UI feedback. You learn to read the exhaustion status of the climber. By practicing, you know what’s an impossible move, a bold one and a safe one.
What’s great with climbing is that the goal is pretty clear: reach the next ledge, the next summit. You see your objective, you just have to reach it. And failing is pretty obvious too: you fall. This helps you focus on what’s important: your body, your movements, your stamina. And eventually, when you reach that ledge, relief and joy!
Route-finding is speaking the mountain’s language
The second revolution in Cairn is the freedom to climb everywhere. It’s not a path or a branching of paths designed by level designers, it’s a whole mountain and you can slip your hand into every crack you see.
The mountain was built rock by rock by our design team (whom I thank dearly). And that brings incomparable feelings of freedom. Even our level designers don’t know where you’ll climb, what route you will choose.
During our playtests, we noticed something quite interesting: video game players usually walked towards the wall and started climbing. While actual rock climbers looked at the wall before climbing, noticed cracks, holds, hoverhangs, jugs in the rock, and decided on a route. Planning ahead, adapting to the wall, pausing to breathe and rest, decrypting the rock… it’s part of the fun in Cairn. Every second you play, you’re facing a choice.
Topping out
Cairn is not only a climbing simulation. It’s an immersion into a beautifully stylized nature, it’s hearing a storm rumbling, alone in the mountain, it’s surviving hunger, cold, thirst and pain. It’s about Aava’s journey as she attempts to reach the summit, and the people and places she will find on the way. It’s about her determination and sacrifices, her search for freedom. But we’ll let you know more about all these aspects of the game soon…
Pragmata coming to PS5 2026, new gameplay revealed https://ift.tt/Yw1ZWix
Hi! I’m Cho Yonghee and I’m the director on Capcom’s newest IP— Pragmata. To everyone who has been waiting so patiently for an update, and to those of you joining us today for the first time, it’s my great pleasure to be here with you.
It’s been two years since we last talked about the game back in June 2023 and we are super excited to finally share a bit of what we’ve been working on. But first, if you haven’t seen the trailer yet, please watch that first. I’ll wait.
Pragmata is an all-new science fiction adventure with its own unique twist of action and strategy. The trailer you just saw features our two main characters, as well as a glimpse of our sci-fi inspired visuals and the cold, dark stretch of the moon where the game takes place. There’s even a sneak peak of action gameplay in there for you.
Our two protagonists, Hugh and Diana, happen upon one another and must work together to defeat the lunar station AI and return to Earth.
Both have their own abilities, and you’ll need to control them both—at the same time—to overcome the many obstacles you’ll face. This two-in-one approach, where Hacking is key to your success, is our own unique take on combat that you’ll only find here—in Pragmata. Stay tuned for more details, as we will delve deeper into the combat experience in the near future!
And as for our space-faring friend Hugh, and his new android companion Diana, we can’t wait to talk about them and their adventure as well.
Everyone here on the development team is working hard to make Pragmata the PS5 game you’ve all been waiting for in 2026.
Lumines Arise bursts onto PlayStation 5 this Fall https://ift.tt/EBZO6J0
Life is rhythmic. It has a pulse. We, as living beings, experience highs and lows. Sometimes together, other times alone. Games have the power to tap directly into that rhythm, stimulating all your senses to put you into a flow state. Everything around you disappears, and you fall into the game’s world. When this happens, it’s a magical feeling that can stir powerful emotions within you.
You’re going to feel that in spades with Lumines Arise, a brand-new entry in the critically acclaimed series which began on the PlayStation Portable 20 years ago (available as Lumines Remastered on PS4). Lumines is back, and to everyone who’s been a fan since the original, I hope you’re excited about this new chapter built from the ground up to push the synergy of audio, visuals, and gameplay beyond any previous title in the franchise.
Embark on a journey paved with sound and light
Lumines Arise on PlayStation 5 with optional PS VR2 compatibility is more than just an ordinary puzzle game—our aim is to hit you right in the feels. You emerge from the darkness in the first stage (a glimpse of which you saw in today’s announcement trailer), and every stop on the over 30-stage journey evokes a different and complex emotional response. From lush jungles, oceans teeming with life, and snakes preparing to strike, to more electronic frontiers like the bustling streets of Tokyo and the endless expanse of outer space. All with visual flourishes to incite synesthesia.
Simple mechanic, surprising depth
It all starts with a seemingly simple puzzle mechanic. If you’ve never played a Lumines game before, here’s how it works: rotate and place a variety of 2×2 blocks made up of one or two colors, forming squares of a single color/pattern. The Timeline sweeps across the playfield to the beat of the thumping soundtrack, erasing completed squares in its path. That gives you a light time pressure to form squares and build on them, making bigger and bigger squares to clear combos and score even more points.
You race to create combos, ever mindful of the constant movement of the Timeline, feeling the vibration of the DualSense controller while the music radiates between your ears and the vibrant, lively background draws you in. That’s when you enter a flow state, and the world around you vanishes. Your pulse quickens as your breath holds still.
Introducing Burst
Now, to amp things up! We’re introducing a brand-new feature to Lumines’ core gameplay: Burst. As you play, you charge up a gauge, shown at the top of the Timeline. When ready, tap a trigger button to activate Burst and lock a formed square to the playfield. Build it as large as you can before time runs out. Watch screen-clearing combos rack up massive points when Burst is complete and the Timeline starts clearing that color again. Clear enough squares to meet the stage’s quota, and you’ll zoom to the next environment.
Avatars are making a comeback, too. Customize your own from the largest catalog of designs in the series ever, and we’re adding more as we go, so stay tuned for updates. It’s the perfect way to express yourself and your personality when setting off on your in-game journey.
Music to your ears… And eyes
In the announcement trailer, you got a taste of Lumines Arise’s phenomenal new soundtrack. If you like that, check out the single of “Only Human” on Bandcamp (coming to other streaming services soon) for a closer listen. Arise features brand-new music composed by Hydelic, who was also responsible for Tetris Effect: Connected’s award-winning score. And just as with Connected, everything you do in-game impacts the soundscape.
More to come in the future
Stay tuned for information about a demo coming later this Summer that you might even want to play with friends.
Now that you’ve seen and know more about Lumines Arise, I hope you’ll agree that this is not just an ordinary puzzle game. It’s an experience of sound and light that will move you like no other. We’ll have plenty more to share as the launch date of Lumines Arise approaches in the Fall.
“Football is a relatively simple game. It’s one of the reasons it’s such a beautiful sport. But within that there’s a lot of depth to be found.”
With these words, spoken by Pierre Tarno, CEO of Sloclap and Rematch’s creative director, it’s easy to see the ethos behind the studio’s spectacular new football game, even before I boot up the final beta.
At first glance Rematch appears to be an arcade styled kickabout, sprinting past the typically super realistic examples of the genre. It’s fast, doesn’t require you to learn particularly complex controls, and pairs down the pitch to 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5 matches. Even the rules are more akin to ‘jumpers for goalposts’ fun, with no fixed positions, fouls, offsides, or breaks except for after goal replays.
And yet, nestled within Rematch’s action-packed gloss is a depth that football fans will not only appreciate, but keep coming back to.
Rematch’s grass roots
“I liked the idea of performing a body kick in third-person,” explains Pierre, when asked about Rematch’s origins. “I think body actions are some of the most beautiful and interesting actions in football, because that’s when the ball circulates the fastest. After that notion, we dug deeper to establish the experience we wanted for the game: to feel like an amazing player, feel part of a team and feel the pressure.”
All three of those things were definitely present during my time with the beta. Getting stuck into the tutorial and practice mode, the controls seemed easy enough, with the expected sprint, block and slide tackle buttons, but beyond that I encountered some interesting differences to other football titles. There’s no dedicated cross button, so the unusual R2 shoot config is also used for whipping the ball into the box. Similarly, the square button’s passes aren’t automatically guided, meaning you have to carefully aim using the left analog stick.
With a combination of button presses it’s easy to perform skilful moves like a rainbow kick, but many of your more dazzling shots specifically depend on your player’s inertia, position, and ball placement, resulting in amazing volleys and even more impressive goals. With one important nuance to factor in – your shots are aimed via an on-screen crosshair, which is determined by the right analog stick’s camera control. So simply pressing R2 won’t get the job done. Similar to passing, you need to be more discerning with your aim, otherwise you’ll be slamming the ball off the invisible walls that surround the pitch instead of scoring screamers.
Far from simple soccer
All of these subtleties and freedoms are what give Rematch its depth. With no player stats, the onus is entirely on you to bring the goods, and that pressure to perform within a team is very, very real. Using the camera to aim shots while also utilising after-touch for curving the ball (Rematch calls it a Magus Shot, suggesting Sloclap are fans of the sports manga Blue Lock) is a skill requiring practice, especially within the manic environment of a match.
I found the 4v4 and 5v5 games easier to get to grips with the intensity of Rematch, due to how quickly mistakes can be punished in a 3v3. Given the naturally fun chaos of players not having to stay in any one position, the ever-changing environment was easier to learn with more players, although it required a greater awareness of my positioning and tactics. The on-screen radar was essential to understanding the flow of the match and ensuring I worked with my teammates, as everyone chasing the ball only led to easy goals for the opposition.
With no single-player mode, Sloclap intends to add bots later into development to let you learn the ropes in something a bit closer to a match without the human pressure. But for now it’s all about playing live and gaining experience, both in-game and figuratively.
Team tips
This learning curve is very much an intentional part of Rematch’s design. “Incentivising team play was the biggest objective and challenge,” says Pierre. “So you’re more vulnerable when you’re in possession, and defenders can quickly hone in on you, which creates pressure to pass. Passing quickly to teammates is the best way to put pressure on your opponents.
“Checking your radar to know where other players are is also important. You see that with the best players in real life football, like Messi – they’re looking around them all the time before they receive the ball, developing their vision and positioning. That’s vital in Rematch.”
It’s this focus on dynamics and tactics which makes Rematch so rewarding. Sure, it’s not as easy as some of the highly skilled players make it look, but at its athletic heart Sloclap hasn’t forgotten that all we want to do is score incredible goals that make us run around our living room with our t-shirts pulled over our faces.
Appropriately, Benjamin Pavard’s classic goal for France against Argentina in the 2018 FIFA World Cup was a big touchstone for Rematch. “It was one of the most amazing body kicks ever,” says Pierre. Look it up, it’s hard to disagree – and those are the sorts of goals you’ll be scoring when Rematch laces up its boots for its big June 19 match on PlayStation 5.
