Hello everyone! Finally! After so many years of hard work, we have our release date: Stray will be publicly available on July 19, 2022! And as you may have seen during today’s State of Play, we’re excited to confirm Stray will also be available to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members* at that time.

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This really means everything to our small but oh-so-dedicated team, and we can’t wait to see people explore this world that we put so much heart and passion into making.

The vision for this game – initially named “HK Project” – started seven years ago by Koola and Viv, the co-founders of BlueTwelve Studio. It really is amazing to see that it is now an actual full-fledged game and will be experienced and hopefully enjoyed by so many players all across the world very soon. We have developed and learned so much along the way. Of all the unexpected challenges and discoveries we found, creating an interactive cat was definitely the most tricky one!

Trying to control a cat – whether it’s in real life or when making a video game – is definitely not a walk in the park! From the very beginning, we knew that the controls and animations of our star character needed to be absolutely spot-on in order to properly convey this exhilarating feeling of skills and movement. So Miko, our cat animator, took the challenge to heart and spent considerable time looking for images and video references. The good and somewhat surprising thing we found is this: It really seems that the whole internet was basically invented for the sole purpose of hosting loads of cute cat pictures and videos! So we ended up having a lot of very good material to work with for references.

Also about 80% of the people from the team are cat owners (or are being owned by a cat depending on how you look at it) and we even have two cats in the studio working with us almost everyday! They are called Oscar and Jun and – even if they are not the most productive employees to be honest – they definitely add a lot of cheerful liveliness to the studio.

Seeing them interact with objects around the office (even som

Hello everyone!

I know how long you have been waiting for this, so it gives me great pleasure to announce the release of our latest trailer “Dominance.”

In previous interviews and updates, we didn’t delve too deep into details about the game system, but hopefully with this preview, you all were able to get a better picture of what actual gameplay will entail—namely, high-octane battles featuring our protagonist Clive Rosfield wielding a full arsenal of attacks unique to the game’s many Eikons (summons). Not to mention epic clashes between the Eikons themselves that put you right in the action.

The team, under direction of Hiroshi Takai, has entered the final leg of development and is focusing on polish as they continue their march toward master up and launch. I, for one, would like to personally thank them for all the hard work they’ve put into the project.

With the power of the PlayStation 5 behind us, we’re looking to take you on a seamless, story-driven, white-knuckle ride that will rival even the most thrilling roller-coaster. So buckle up, the wait is almost over!

– Yoshida Naoki
Final Fantasy XVI Producer

First, allow me to apologize for making everyone wait so long for new information on Final Fantasy XVI…but the good news is it’s finally here!

In our latest trailer, we’ve introduced several new Eikons, as well as provided a more detailed peek at our action-packed battle system and the freedom it gives players. As for development progress, I’m happy to announce that the game is fully playable from start to finish; though, from optimization to brush-up, there is still a mountain of challenges to tackle as we head into our final push.

Until then, please stay tuned. We’ll do our best to not keep you waiting too long before our next update!

– Hiroshi Takai
Final Fantasy XVI Director

Introduction of the Dominants of Titan and Garuda

We here on the Final Fantasy XVI team hope you enjoyed the trailer and we wanted to give our fans a little bit more information about the Dominants of Titan and Garuda that you just saw.

Permanent Economic Adviser Hugo Kupka’s meteoric rise to prominence was sudden, if not unexpected. Once a nameless foot soldier in the Republican Army, his awakening as Dominant of the Eikon Titan thrust him to the forefront of Dhalmekian politics. It was here he used his newfound position as the most powerful man in the republic to exert influence over both the nation’s armies and its policy making—amassing a personal fortune in the process. Yet while it is said that a man who has everything wants for nothing, Benedikta Harman will teach him money and power are far from all the world has to offer.

The rollout of the all-new PlayStation Plus is well underway, with Asia’s launch last week and Japan launching starting today! Additional markets will launch this month, and we can’t wait for fans to enjoy the new service.

Today, we are pleased to share the monthly games that will be included in June for PlayStation Plus. From June 7 to July 4, PlayStation Plus members can add God of War (2018), Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl to their game library. When the all-new PlayStation Plus launches in your region, these titles will be available as monthly games to all PlayStation Plus members including those on the PlayStation Plus Essential plan (which includes the same benefits PlayStation Plus members get today).

Let’s take a closer look at the titles.

God of War | PS4

Living as a man outside the shadow of the gods, Kratos must adapt to unfamiliar lands, unexpected threats, and a second chance at being a father. Together with his son Atreus, the pair will venture into the brutal Norse wilds and fight to fulfill a deeply personal quest. This staggering reimagining of God of War combines all the hallmarks of the iconic series – epic boss fights, fluid combat, and breathtaking scale – and fuses them with a powerful and moving narrative that re-establishes Kratos’ world. 

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker | PS4

The Naruto franchise goes 4 vs. 4, featuring team-based gameplay with 8 ninjas fighting simultaneously. Players cooperate as a team of four to compete against other teams online. Graphically, Shinobi Striker is also built from the ground up in a completely new graphic style. Lead your team and fight online to see who the best ninjas are.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | PS4/PS5

Brawl it out as your favorite Nickelodeon characters in bombastic platform battles. With a power-packed cast of heroes from the Nickelodeon universe, face-off with all-stars from SpongeBob Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Loud House, Danny Phantom, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, and more to determine ultimate animation dominance. With unique move sets and attacks inspired by their personalities, each character has an individual style of play enabling endless action for Nickelodeon’s legion of fans. 

Last chance to download May’s PlayStation Plus games

Be sure to add the following titles to your game library by Monday June 6: FIFA 22, Tribes of Midgard, Curse of the Dead Gods.

Stay tuned

My name is Takaomi Kaneko from Arc System Works. In the past, I worked on the River City series and Double Dragon 4 as a producer, illustrator, etc. When PlayStation asked me to reflect on the series as it marks its 35^th anniversary this year, I decided to  interweave stories I personally heard from the game’s creator and then director (1988) Yoshihisa Kishimoto as well as WayForward’s Tomm Hulett.

The origins of the original’s co-op mechanics

In the 1980s, the video game business’s strategy was focused in the arcade sector, chiefly sales of arcade cabinets.

In this way, the number of players for any given game would be determined before development would commence, so the game would fit the cabinet type that needed to be sold. As such, Technos Japan’s in-house sales team – which was very powerful at the time – made a strong proposal to the development team that it should consider creating a game for a two-player cabinet. The result was the first Double Dragon.

At a later date and in similar fashion, the team proposed a title that’d use a three-player cabinet, resulting in 1990’s Double Dragon 3. For the first time, the series’ story was altered to include a third brother for the third title.

Balancing the game around two players

As the game was designed for arcades, there was no plan to balance its gameplay. To encourage players to team up with friends, Double Dragon was designed to be extremely difficult to complete for a solo player, requiring considerable skill. This encouraged cooperative play to make the challenge surmountable – and therefore add more coins to the machine.

Cooperative play continues to thrive today, be it local or online, letting players complete challenges by inviting friends to team up to overcome difficulty spikes.