Sony Discloses There Will Be No First-Party PlayStation 5 Exclusives Until 2025

Sony has announced in its latest financial report that there will be no big first-party releases for the PlayStation 5 for the remainder of 2024. We can only expect first-party releases after the end of Sony’s financial year, which is March 2025.

“Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing live service games, but, while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarök and Marvelʼs Spider-Man,” says Sony president, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki in the aforementioned report, which can be read in full here.

One explanation for the drought of releases stems from PlayStation 5 exclusives being developed at a much slower pace. Some PS5 games were developed as a cross-gen release for PS4 simultaneously, such as God of War Ragnarök, which requires a lot of time and resources to make sure the game functions well on both consoles. Not to mention the higher production costs that come with games of this caliber. Totoki, who is replacing Jim Ryan as interim CEO when Ryan leaves on April 1, weighs in on the development cycle for PlayStation’s in-house studios saying that there is “room for improvement”. As reported by VGC, Totoki says through a translator that the improvement will come from “…how to use money, the schedule of development and how to fulfill one’s accountability towards development.”

In the meantime, Sony will still have exclusives on the PlayStation 5 from third-party partners in the coming months. This includes Final Fantasy VII Rebirth coming out on February 29, Rise of the Ronin releasing on March 22, and Stellar Blade arriving on April 26. While there are still titles to look forward to, no releases of first-party titles that are often celebrated for their immaculate quality will undoubtedly have an impact for the company. We can only hope there is a silver lining in the future for Sony after Totoki takes control on April 1.