Don’t get too attached to your PlayStation 4, because one day very soon, the PS5 is gonna come a knockin’, ready to boot your old console up to the attic faster than you can say backwards compatibility.
With Sony finally confirming that the PS5 is in the works, along with some newly announced specs to obsess over we thought now would be as good a time as any to take a look at the potential launch titles that could really take the PlayStation 5 to a whole new level.
You’ll notice the games on our list are all sequels to some of the greatest PS4 games you can get right now, because frankly, if you think you’re seeing a sequel to any of these games on PS4, you’re dreaming.
Horizon Zero Dawn 2
2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn was an absolutely stunning open world adventure, one that built a rich, well realised post apocalyptic land that’s just begging to be explored a second time round.
After all, the Frozen Wilds DLC expansion proved that there are still new lands to explore, and tribes to meet, and a PS5 sequel could really push the boundaries in terms of visuals. If you thought Horizon Zero Dawn looked good on a PS4, just imagine how a sequel would look on a next gen console.
We’ve already heard from one of the game’s voice actors that a sequel is already at some stage in development, and if the PS5 really isn’t due till around 2020, that gives Guerrilla Games plenty of time to put together something really special – a hotly anticipated sequel and a next-gen launch game all in one lovely package.
Uncharted 5
Okay, so Nathan Drake’s story ended in Uncharted 4, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but – and hear me out on this – what if the next Uncharted didn’t follow Nathan at all? If Uncharted: The Lost Legacy proved anything, it’s that you can still make a damn good Uncharted title without Nathan Drake anywhere in sight.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Nolan North’s Drake is one of the best characters in modern video games, and he would be missed, but the Uncharted universe is full of potential and interesting characters that could carry their own stories.
Personally, I’d love to see an Uncharted 5 launch on PS5 that’s all about Sully being a smooth talking crook in the early days of his career. If you’re not intrigued by that concept, you’re probably lying to yourself.
God of War 2
God of War 2, also known as God of War 5, or The Adventures of Dad and Boi part 2, will almost certainly be a game for the PlayStation 5 – the question is, will it be ready in time to launch for the next gen console?
We have no idea if Cory Balrog and his team have even started work on the sequel to the acclaimed God of War reboot yet, but if they have there’s a strong chance it could be ready in time for a 2020 PS5 launch. It’s certainly been implied recently that Sony Santa Monica is up to something GoW related.
Just think about how great that would be. God of War was one of the best selling PlayStation exclusives of all time, and a damn good game to boot, not to mention one that ended on a hell of a cliffhanger. Launching the PS5 alongside a sequel to a game like that is essentially a license for Sony to print money, and could get the company off to a strong start in the next gen console race.
Bloodborne 2
The best game FromSoftware ever made was Bloodborne, and that’s something I can prove with facts and statistics. Bloodborne was a more aggressive, more frightening, and far more interesting take on the Dark Souls formula, offering a blend of gothic survival horror and intensely challenging boss battles
It is, frankly, a crime that we haven’t seen a sequel to Bloodborne yet. FromSoftware recently put out the excellent Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, so hopefully now it can look into working with Sony again to launch the PlayStation 5 with a game so insanely hard it’ll make most people punch a whole through their shiny new console in less than 24 hours.
Bloodborne 2 might end up being a niche launch title for PS5, but it’s one the world needs.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
A sequel to Insomniac’s Spider-Man epic is by far the least likely game to launch with the PlayStation 5, but it’s also the one I want to see the most. Probably because I only recently finished the PS4 one and I’m already greedy for more.
There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be getting a Spider-Man follow up on the next generation of PlayStation consoles though, and we can certainly dream about the idea of it arriving as a launch title. No harm in a dream, is there?
If Spider-Man was technically impressive on a PS4, think about what swinging through an open world New York would feel like on the PS5. Throw in big name villains like Venom and the Green Goblin, and you’ve got a launch title that’s guaranteed to shift consoles.
We’ve also recently heard that Spider-Man running on a PS5 dev kit drastically cuts down on loading times, so I’m already salivating at the thought of what Insomniac can do with all that extra power.
Of course, given Spider-Man only very recently came to PS4, I can’t imagine Insomniac are going have to a sequel ready for the first few years of the PlayStation 5, let alone its launch.
As with all the potential sequels on this list though, it’ll be worth the wait. If the PS4 can be known for anything, it’ll be the incredible exclusives it managed to consistently release, and I sincerely hope the PS5 can maintain that trend.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.