Hi, I’m Matt and I’m thrilled to announce my FPS project Severed Steel. Severed Steel is a single-player shooter featuring a fully destructible voxel environment, loads of bullet time, and a unique one-armed protagonist.

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Maybe the most unique aspect of Severed Steel is its protagonist, Steel. Steel loses her arm in an accident just before the start of the game. EdenSys, the gigantic corporation responsible for her injury, decides to abandon her rather than help. The campaign is about Steel liberating others crushed under the boot of EdenSys while seeking revenge for her abandonment. 

The missing arm concept came to me while thinking a lot about gameplay mechanics. I wanted to subvert the concept of reloading in shooting games, and I liked the concept of players constantly throwing, ditching, and picking up new weapons. I considered the idea of a one-armed character. Someone that would find creative ways to keep well-stocked with ammo in the midst of battle: rather than worry about reloading, they’d use their agility to steal weapons from enemies’ hands. Having a one-armed character who can’t reload opened a lot of unique gameplay. But the decision to have a protagonist with one arm meant I was dealing with a subject outside my own experience. And if the game were to star such a protagonist, it must be playable by people who can relate to Steel’s experience.

Before committing to the character design I researched what it is like to be a gamer with one arm. Through that I discovered a lot. For instance: Did you know there is a vibrant community on YouTube of highly skilled console FPS gamers who play with one arm? Taking my learnings from that, I made sure to include a custom button binding option to be dictated by the player. Once I was confident I could realize the character of Steel in an inclusive way, I committed to the design. 

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This week, the team fielded your listener letters with quality recommendations on games that can be completed in a night or two. Plus, we get the soundtrack from Astro’s Playroom stuck in our heads again.video gamespodcastplaystation

Stuff We Talked About

• Little Nightmares II
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• Astro’s Playroom
• Limbo
• Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture
• Firewatch
• We Were Here
• Outriders

The Cast

Tim Turi –  Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

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In celebration of International Women’s Day earlier this week, we asked you to share the amazing women in games that have inspired you over the years using #PSshare #PSblog. We didn’t just ask for your shares, but to tell us what about these heroines and anti-heroes struck a chord with you. Here are this week’s inspiring highlights: 

“Remaining strong after a great loss in her life, Aloy is nothing short of a strong heroine. All while projecting kindness to others. Something I relate to and try to do daily.” – @kaytanaa on Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn

“Lara Croft will always be special to me –  This character has genuinely helped and inspired me.” – @XxPAGZxX on Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series

She is a supporting antagonist in Ghost of Tsushima.
She is not samurai, but she is a born killer. Strong & Beautiful.” – @azuazu1202luna on Tomoe from Ghost of Tshushima

“Jesse takes in so much and adjusts her perspective on reality without fully understanding what’s going on. All she knows is that if she doesn’t fix things, the world is in danger.” – @MdeavorVP on Jesse Faden from Control

“A unique female character that held her own with her brother and ended up becoming his savior from Jack the Ripper. She had strength, smarts & leadership skills. BONUS: We also got to play older Evie!” – @MisthosLiving on Evie Frye of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

“Seeing Raven overcome her past hardships and grow as a person was amazing to see and carries a meaningful message. Her teaming up with Kat in Gravity Rush 2 was one of the game’s highlights.” – @Draikin on Raven from Gravity Rush 2

“Not all strong women in video games need carry a weapon. Hailey Cooper is know in East Harlem for her talent