After a landmark year featuring games like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok, PlayStation 5’s 2023 has a lot to live up to. The earliest part of the year will be driven by third-party exclusives and the launch of the PlayStation VR2, while the back half of the year will rely on yet another sequel to a critically acclaimed PS4 game. It looks like Xbox and Nintendo will only be stepping up their competition next year, so Sony needs to deliver a lot of great PS5 exclusives to say relevant.
Ahead of the new year, we’re rounding up the 2023 PS5 exclusives that should be on your radar. We’re only including games with firm release windows, so don’t expect to see Marvel’s Wolverine, Death Stranding 2, or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake on this list. Still, from Forspoken to Stellar Blade, these seven titles should provide a lot of varied fun on PS5 next year.
Forspoken — January 24
Forspoken was one of the first PS5-exclusive titles that we learned about, and we don’t have to wait much longer to finally get our hands on it. This magic-based action RPG follows a girl from New York named Frey (played by Ella Bulinska) after she’s whisked away to the magical world of Athia. Although there are some concerns surrounding the game’s narrative, its colorful magic-based combat and fast-paced exploration look like a lot of fun. While we’ll have to wait until January 24 to play the full game, there’s actually a demo for Forspoken available now on the PlayStation Store.
Season: A Letter to the Future — January 31
Season: A Letter to the Future looks like the most relaxing upcoming PlayStation console exclusive. It looks like a cozy game about biking around, recording sounds, and taking pictures of a beautiful world that’s about to end, so it seems like it could be one of the first indie darlings of 2023. Unfortunately, its development has been rocky, with reports of workplace abuse emerging in the middle of Season: a letter to the future’s development. If that doesn’t bother you and the concept intrigues you enough, then consider checking out its demo on the PlayStation Store ahead of its January 31 launch.
Horizon Call of the Mountain — February 22
While next Spring might seem a bit quieter for PS5 owners, that’s when Sony will launch the PlayStation VR2 on February 22. The crown jewel of its launch lineup is Horizon Call of the Mountain, a first-person VR game that lets players explore and fight the cybernetic-infused enemies of Horizon’s dystopian, sci-fi world. There are plenty of other PlayStation VR2 launch titles to look forward to as well, including Fantavision 202X, a sequel to a cult classic PS2 puzzle game, as well as Until Dawn: Rush of Blood’s on-rails horror spiritual successor The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR. Still, because of its impressive graphical fidelity and first-party developer status, Horizon Call of the Mountain is the one must-play PlayStation VR2 title on PS5 that we currently know about.
Final Fantasy XVI — June 22
The next mainline Final Fantasy game will be a PlayStation console exclusive at release, and it looks great. Final Fantasy XVI follows a man name named Clive who is on a quest for revenge right in the war-torn world of Valisthea and can summon Eikons based on Final Fantasy series summons to assist him in battle. This entry looks darker than previous mainline Final Fantasy games, playing up the dark fantasy and political turmoil hooks popularized by Game of Thrones. Its real-time action RPG gameplay also looks quite exhilarating, so we can’t wait to get our hands on Final Fantasy XVI when it finally comes out on June 22.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 — Fall 2023
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the biggest upcoming first-party PS5 game heading into 2023. Its 2018 predecessor is one of the most enjoyable superhero games ever made, thanks to how satisfying it is to swing around New York as Spider-Man, and the 2020 follow-up focused on Miles Morales is just as fun while telling a more contained and emotional story. We can’t wait to see what Insomniac Games does with a new Spider-Man game where both Peter and Miles are playable as well as what they do with new characters like Kraven the Hunter and Venom. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will likely be the standout PS5 game of the year when it launches in fall 2023.
Pacific Drive – TBA
Self-described by developer Ironwood Studios as a “road-like,” Pacific Drive is a supernatural roguelike survival game where players try to survive harsh storms and supernatural threats while they continuously upgrade their car while driving through the Pacific Northwest. While Forza Motorsport will deliver high-fidelity racing gameplay on Xbox, Pacific Drive is having a lot more fun playing with what the premise of a game about driving a car can be. Because of its weirdly charming premise, Pacific Drive is on our radars heading into 2023, even if it doesn’t have a specific release date or window within next year just yet.
Stellar Blade — TBA
Stellar Blade is a fast-paced action game that has made a strong impression on the PlayStation’s game announcement livestreams it has shown up in. It’s a post-apocalyptic sci-fi game following a girl named Eve who is trying to save the Earth from alien invaders. For fans of action titles from developers like PlatinumGames, Stellar Blade looks like it will scratch the same intense combat itch. It also features overexaggerated characters and world design that will appeal to fans of manga and anime. It doesn’t have a specific release date, but we know that Stellar Blade will release for PS5 sometime in 2023.
