Future PS5 players can get their first taste of next-gen games at today's Xbox event
Your first taste of next-gen games
Here's how to watch the Xbox Series X gameplay reveal event on May 7.
Sony's approach to revealing the PS5 has been very different to Microsoft's, so far. We haven't seen what the hardware actually looks like aside from the controller, but we know the PS5 specs. Third-party PS5 games have been revealed, but first-party games have not.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has shown us what its console looks like, revealed its specs and confirmed the console's flagship exclusive, Halo Infinite, as well as another major title in Hellblade 2. Xbox will be the first platform holder to formally show off next-gen games, too, with its May 7 Inside Xbox livestream (here's how to watch the Xbox Series X gameplay reveal event).
This is a stream that all PS5 players will want to check out, and the reason is simple: it's likely that every game revealed or shown off during this event will come to PS5, too.
Even if you're seeing games running on the Xbox Series X hardware and not Sony's machine, Microsoft has confirmed that it "will focus on giving you a first look at next-gen gameplay, trailers and sneak peeks from a wide variety of publishing partners and independent developers across the globe and industry". 'Publishing partners' means third-party publishers, including Ubisoft. And third-party publishers release games on all formats, including PS5.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla gameplay will debut during the stream, it's been confirmed, which of course coming to PS5 too. If Microsoft is focusing on games outside of its own platform exclusives, that means this event will be a big deal for anyone interested in next-gen hardware, regardless of whether they're planning on owning an Xbox.
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What this means for PS5 players
The age of third-party exclusives is mostly over, save for a few outliers (Final Fantasy 7 Remake or Rise of the Tomb Raider, for example). And even the ones that do launch on another platform first tend to be timed exclusives. That was indeed the case with Rise of the Tomb Raider, which later arrived on PS4 with an enhanced version after debuting on Xbox One.
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That means whatever games you see on May 7 should be confirmed for PS5 at some point, too.
While the wait for a full PS5 reveal still feels like it's going to drag on for a few more weeks, you should still get a snapshot of what to expect from the future of gaming on May 7.
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Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor, he's an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.