On March 17, Sony will be hosting a State of Play event focused entirely on Hogwarts Legacy. This comes as a surprise, as based on the wording, it seems that Hogwarts Legacy—a third-party game—will be the only game there. This isn’t the only major change for State of Play thus far this year, though.
The gaming industry cannot be simply boiled down to patterns, but they do play a certain role for various reasons. Games release on Tuesday or Friday based on how the sales would be represented, while Sony presents patterns and then varies them for PS Plus games (from one big game and one niche game to a more varied selection of 3-4 games). Identifying these patterns then helps fans keep track of the latest updates, and this worked for State of Plays in 2021 too.
Sony’s State of Play Pattern in 2021
Last year, there were multiple State of Play events, with those taking place in February, April, May, July, October, and so on. Each of these followed a rather reliable pattern, with little variation. These were often announced on a Tuesday and took place on the following Thursday. The only that hugely deviated from this pattern was the October State of Play, as it mostly focused on indie titles and not blockbuster Sony exclusives.
A Tuesday-reveal Thursday-event pattern may not sound like the most groundbreaking thing in the industry, but it helped those who realized it keep expectations in check. State of Play rumors come at a dime-a-dozen, and if one reared its head but Tuesday passed, then fans knew not to expect an announcement on Wednesday or a surprise State of Play—like Nintendo Directs have done in the past—on that Thursday.
Shifting Waters for State of Play in 2022
The upcoming Hogwarts Legacy State of Play event may only be the third one of this year, but it shows that this Tuesday-reveal Thursday-event pattern does not apply to 2022. A new year is as good of a time for a new pattern as any, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a discernible one here. The first State of Play, taking place earlier at the start of February, was announced on January 31—a Monday—and took place on February 2—a Wednesday.
The second one was announced on March 8 and took place the day after on March 9, a Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Now, of course, the Hogwarts Legacy one was announced on March 14 and is taking place on March 17, a Monday and Thursday. Looking at this, there’s no clear pattern. In other words, it seems Sony wants State of Play events to be a bit more surprising this year, although there were plenty of rumors of a second State of Play event in March anyway. It just means it’ll be harder to form expectations after these rumors crop up.
