Category: PlayStation

If you have ever found yourself in an unfamiliar room, staring at a closed door and wondering what lies beyond it, then you are already familiar with the mysterious driving force of Blue Prince. Will this door lead to a twisting passageway? A quiet bedroom? Or a grand ballroom?

My name is Tonda Ros, an indie developer with a love for atmospheric games, and for the last eight years, I have been working on a game about a large manor and its many mysterious doors. Blue Prince was formed from big ideas from very different worlds. It has elements of mystery, strategy and discovery, merging the world of a first-person puzzle adventure with the drafting mechanics of a tabletop card game. It also launches April 10 as a day one PlayStation Plus Game Catalog title.

But how exactly does the game work?

Floor plan drafting 

When my own journey began almost a decade ago, I had one simple idea: “Every door is a choice.” In a way, these five words sum up the entirety of Blue Prince. The estate of Mount Holly is not an ordinary house. This is a manor of shifting rooms and ever-changing expectations. And in this house, each door you open can lead to one of three different rooms. The choice is up to you. 

Do you want a storeroom to gain useful tools? A library to search for more clues? Or perhaps simply a long hallway, to grant yourself even more doors to continue your exploration? As you make your decision and open the door, you are instantly met with the room of your choosing.

Constructing a shifting house

Ironically, the process of creating this game is a lot like playing Blue Prince. Both the player and I are attempting to construct a shifting house of many rooms. A mansion that is full of challenges that we cannot foresee at the onset of our adventure. And to create this house, we build rooms, one at a time – door by door, blueprint by blueprint. The rooms we choose to draft are of course, entirely up to us. As we create, we are also able to explore, traveling from room to room in search of answers and clues.

Where the player’s adventure begins to differ, however, is at the end of each in-game day. When you awake tomorrow, you will find the house you have been exploring will have a completely different layout. You will find doors that lead to new rooms. You will find different items, different clues and different puzzles. You will make new discoveries, and each day you will learn more and more about the strange rules that govern this mysterious house.

Shifting puzzles

Designing puzzles for a game taking place in an ever-changing mansion was a bit of a challenge. One player might find a puzzle in the mansion, and the very next room they draft might contain a clue for it.. For another, it may be dozens of rooms before they discover the secret. The beauty, of course, is this is actually what makes the experience special. The rooms you draft, the items you find, and the order in which you make discoveries all contribute to an adventure that will be wildly different from every other playthrough.

Additionally, there is no puzzle in the game that must be solved. Like most things on the estate, there are always alternate avenues of progression to find and various solutions to the challenges you face. If you can’t figure something out in the game, don’t be afraid to move on. Exploring the manor will eventually lead you to the answers you are looking for, as most challenges in the game cannot be solved without finding more information and clues in other areas of the estate. 

After eight years of development, I am finally at the end of my journey, and I am eager to hand over the keys to you so you can start your own. If you will allow me one final word of advice: the less you know about this game going in, the better. In this article, I have only given you a broad sense of the basic mechanics of my game and how I approached designing them. I will leave the evolution of these mechanics and the story of Mount Holly for you to discover yourself. But don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long. The doors of Blue Prince open April 10.

Last week, we asked you share the epic landscapes of feudal Japan in Assassin’s Creed Shadows using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

irmarie_diaz shares Naoe riding a horse through agricultural fields in the fall.

visualcam9 shares Naoe wandering through cherry blossoms

RivalsUniverse shares sunlight streaming through a bamboo forest

DexM_ds shares Naoe perched atop an icy winter landscape

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TakaSanGames shares a castle surrounded by cherry blossoms

tim14009498 shares Naoe atop a roof overlooking a settlement in fall

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

THEME: Heights
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on April 9, 2025 

Next week, look down below. Share breathtaking moments taken from great heights in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

What is it? What’s the formula, the secret ingredient to make a VR game bring pure excitement and adrenaline to the players? How can we make them smile and go “wow” after they take off the headset? For us devs at Something Random working on Harpagun, it all comes down to a few simple elements. Let’s take it from the top.

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Movement that matters: Speed, control, and immersion

Action games are all about movement. An issue mostly already solved in flat screen games but still problematic in VR. Some forms of locomotion allow for precision but are pretty slow and unresponsive. Others let you zoom around the locations, but can be uncomfortable. Those that are, are limiting or take you out of the illusion of “being there”. 

In Harpagun we needed a system with a clear set of goals: comfort, simplicity, responsiveness, speed and immersion. In a proper arcade game players have to be able to react in a blink of an eye, immediately focus on what’s the most important, change their position to avoid danger or get a better shot at an enemy.

We managed to achieve that with our “pylon and anchor” system. Players move between sets of points with their eyes anchored to points of interest such as a path forward or center of the combat area. The movement is smooth but fast enough to be comfortable while allowing for total control of the battlefield.

Grab, smash, throw: The power of the Magnetic Ray

The first thing everyone wants to do in VR is to grab something and throw it. Sadly it requires the player to come very close to an object and can sometimes be very finicky and actually ruin the illusion of presence due to the limitations of the medium (mass of objects, pressure on hands etc.). But you need to do it. You need that interaction with the world and enemies, that’s what VR is for. So how can we have a cookie and eat a cookie? Use a Magnetic ray of course. (not for the cookie, for the interactions).

Distance grabbing is a well-known concept in VR at this point so the challenge here was to make it as juicy and essential to the gameplay as possible. You can use it on enemies and each will react differently. Some may be squashed on the ground, others reveal their weak point or may part with parts of their bodies. The ray can also grab projectiles, move around elements of the environment from as small as tin cans to as big as fridges and tractors. Of course all of them can then be used to smash some more enemies.

Juice it up: Impact, chaos, and a soundtrack that slaps

It wouldn’t be much fun if you zoomed around and squashed grey boxes in grey locations now, would it? You need “juice”, a lot of it. Animations that show personality and intent. Hit reactions give you a sense of impact and power of weapons. Splashes and explosions telling you that an enemy turned into a pile of marmalade under a falling sentry turret. Add to that audio and music. A proper squeak of an alien jumping on your face, followed by a thud of a tv set hitting it and a splat when it, well, splats all over the place. In terms of music for Harpagun we settled with a mix of army marches, jazz, balkan beats and a touch of slavic folk. Hey, stop, don’t close this page – I assure you, it all works – the soundtrack slaps.

A quirky universe to unravel

Two important elements of the experience – a “what?” and “where?” If you want players to continue playing beyond the first few minutes you need to give them a reason. Places to discover, people to meet, quest to complete. Going too “over the board” wouldn’t serve an action game though. Who wants to read lengthy lore snippets when there are enemies to unalive? You might want to make it a bit simpler, something like – a team of space junkers wanting to strip an abandoned planet from natural resources loses contact with an expedition member and sends a deck hand on the planet to check it out. Seems basic enough. 

Now let’s add to it alien plant-mushroom-creatures, Slavic retro-futurism, dark humour, incompetent crew “helping” the hero, some happy-go-lucky attitude and voila. A world full of quirky characters and colorful locations is ready and waiting to be discovered. “Smacznego”.

Stir it up and serve hot! Smacznego! 

Pretty simple, isn’t it? Just follow those few steps for three years – working hard, putting effort and love into what you’re doing. Then, hopefully, you’ll end up with an action game that VR enthusiasts enjoy and cherish as much as you do.

Incidentally we’ve just made a thing like that – it’s called Harpagun and you’ll be able to play it as soon as April 10 on PlayStation VR2. Give it a go and tell us if any of our theories are actually true. See You Space Junker!

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

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Hey, everybody! Sid, Kristen, Brett, and I are back this week to discuss the new take on Pac-Man Shadow Labyrinth, the wonders of hand-tracking in PlayStation VR2, what it’s like to learn how to walk in Baby Steps, and their most played games on PlayStation.

Stuff We Talked About

• Next week’s release highlights:
  • Koira | PS5
  • Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos Remastered | PS5, PS4
  • The Last of Us Part II Remastered | PC
• Shadow Labyrinth — Release Date (July 18 for PS5)
• Into Black (PS VR2) — Announcement Blog (coming soon)
• Masters of Light (PS VR2) — Hand-tracking update
• Baby Steps — Hands-on report
• Our top five most-played games on PlayStation
• PlayStation Plus Monthly Games April
  • RoboCop: Rogue City | PS5
  • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | PS5, PS4
  • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory | PS4

The Cast

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Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE

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Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

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Brett Elston – Manager, Content Communications, SIE

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O’Dell Harmon Jr. – Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Thanks to Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

The wait is over! Masters of Light is now one of the first games to introduce full hand tracking on PlayStation VR2, pushing the boundaries of immersive gameplay like never before. As the creator of Masters of Light and co-founder of Coven, I’m beyond excited to bring this revolutionary update to PlayStation fans.

Learn specific gestures to teleport, block meteors and fight!

Harness magic with your own hands

Imagine stepping into the world of Masters of Light and casting spells with nothing but your hands—no controllers needed. This is the power of PS VR2’s new hand tracking technology, allowing you to unleash beams of light, summon shields, and control energy like a true celestial warrior. Every flick of your wrist, every precise movement, translates into real-time spellcasting, making battles feel more intuitive, immersive, and exhilarating than ever.

Masters of Light features high energy first person combat where focus, timing and strategy are keys to victory.

A new standard for immersion

When we first envisioned Masters of Light, our goal was to make players feel truly empowered. From the very beginning, we built our combat system around fluid, natural gestures—inspired by self defense moves. Now, thanks to PlayStation VR2’s advanced tracking capabilities, players can experience the game as we originally imagined: with pure hand movement, free from controllers.

Frantic hand tracking moves will keep you physically engaged in the fights. You WILL break a sweat!

The evolution of Hand Tracking in VR

At Coven, we’ve been developing hand-tracking games for years, pushing the technology forward with every project. Bringing this feature to PS VR2 was an incredible challenge, but also a dream come true. This would have not been possible without the support of our incredible porting team, VR Monkey. Here is what they have to say:

“Implementing the hand tracking in two and a half months was a challenge, since officially Unity hasn’t added PS VR2’s hand tracking support. So one of our developers (Thanks Eric Gregory) created an in-house plugin that took advantage of Sony’s new state of the art tracking system to make hand tracking run at 60 frames per second (currently the highest available on the market). 

After that, we could harness the powerful gesture detection system of the PlayStation 5 to recreate all of the game’s powers and interactions in a week’s work.

We’ve refined the system to make sure every motion is responsive, every action feels powerful, and every battle is a seamless blend of strategy and skill.“

New enemies and superpowers are unlocked as players progress in the game, climaxing in insane battles that will leave you breathless.

Play your way

With this new update, Masters of Light now offers multiple control options:

• Hand tracking mode – No controllers, just pure hand movements for spellcasting and navigation.
• PS VR2 Sense controller mode – Experience the game with the precision and feedback of adaptive triggers and haptics.

Whether you prefer the tactile power of controllers or the freedom of true hand-tracked gameplay, the choice is yours.

Use the “shockwave” gesture to push away all the enemies at once. Reactivate ancient crystals with your inner light to open Gates to other constellations.

A galactic battle awaits

If you haven’t joined the fight yet, now is the perfect time. Step into the role of The Wanderer, a being of light battling against the encroaching darkness. Travel across stunning cosmic landscapes, uncover ancient secrets, and challenge the black hole’s core in a fight to save the galaxy. With 36 action-packed levels, leaderboards, and the intense Grand Master difficulty mode, there’s always a new challenge to conquer.

Hidden in the 36 levels are ancient ruins that can be reactivated by the player to unlock pieces of the lore. 

Join the revolution

Hand tracking on PS VR2 marks a huge leap forward for virtual reality, and we’re honored to be among the first to bring it to PlayStation fans. Whether you’re a longtime VR player or diving in for the first time, Masters of Light delivers an experience that’s intuitive, thrilling, and truly next-gen.

Are you ready to wield the power of light with your own hands? Masters of Light is available now on PlayStation VR2—download the update and step into a new era of VR gaming today!

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Shadow Labyrinth is the forthcoming 2D action platformer from our team at Bandai Namco Studios where players will control Swordsman No.8, summoned to a mysterious planet by the enigmatic Puck to complete a mission where others have failed. The two will discover secrets and battle huge bosses in their struggle to survive. The concept of a dark Pac-Man game is bold new ground for the brand, delivering a unique experience that existing and new PAC players will be excited to dig into. Shadow Labyrinth emerges from the darkness on July 18.

Gamers may have noticed that Puck looks quite a bit like Pac-Man, and there’s the amazing visual of a huge foreboding and dark Pac-Man chomping down on the body of a downed foe. But Shadow Labyrinth’s inspiration from Pac-Man is more than skin deep, our team worked to build from the ground up with careful consideration of what it means to be a Pac-Man game.

The iconic maze is second only to Pac-Man himself when considering the core factors of a Pac game. We wanted to apply that principle to our game where the characters are just as important as the place where we find them. Arcade Pac-Man’s maze is immersive, and we wanted to bring that to life on a broader scale. The map of this mysterious planet when viewed zoomed out is itself a massive maze, and like the original Pac-Man, you must get familiar with the maze to best your enemies. The original arcade game’s maze was set upon a background of darkness, Shadow Labyrinth takes this one step further by having our story take place in the depths of outer space on a dark and mysterious planet where survival means tougher challenges in deeper levels. You either reach the end or are consumed trying.

When you approach a Pac-Man arcade machine you are greeted by a joystick, so we thought, controlling Pac-Man is quite simple, right? It’s just a joystick. But as you progress through each level the on-screen action of dodging Ghosts gets intense. Shadow Labyrinth gives players a variety of actions and weapons to use, but we wanted the player inputs to feel natural, not overwhelming – like that simple joystick. We also wanted to give the player as much choice as possible, letting them choose which direction they would like to explore first. Like original arcade Pac-Man, the action in Shadow Labyrinth gets seriously intense and we felt that an approachable control scheme and the flexibility to explore the directions they’re curious about would help deepen player immersion similar to the original arcade game.

There are in fact 3 modes of play in Shadow Labyrinth. Controlling Swordsman No.8 is all about weapon use and artfully dodging, and Mini Puck mode is all about exploring hidden and out of reach pathways. These in themselves feel very Pac-Man, but the 3^rd mode of play is effectively Shadow Labyrinth’s version of a Power Pellet: GAIA, the robotic giant with devastating force. Using GAIA, players can damage enemies that might have otherwise been too strong, break through barriers (a reference to the arcade game Super Pac-Man), and actually eat enemies. But just like a Power Pellet, this power is not endless, and must be used strategically to, as Pac-Man fans say, “turn the tables” on your enemies.

Pac-Man is always eating Dots, Power Pellets, and Ghosts to level up and keep going. We wanted to expand on the core concept of consuming in Shadow Labyrinth to include eating to defeat foes but also eating as a means of powering up. In the game, you can choose to eat enemies instead of slashing them until defeated.

If you do choose to eat them then you’ll gain different resources depending on the enemy you’ve eaten. These resources can then be used to acquire and upgrade your abilities. So, in Shadow Labyrinth too you must eat to progress, not only to get further but also to grow from prey to the apex predator. 

But where are the Ghosts? We didn’t forget them. In Shadow Labyrinth, amongst many of the vile creatures you must destroy or be haunted by are the G-Hosts: parasitic organisms that have taken over monsters and machines of the planet to create something new and terrifying. These encounters serve as formidable boss battles fitting for the primary antagonists of the arcade original. You’ll encounter the G-Hosts based upon Pac-Man Ghosts such as Pinky, never revealed until now, as twisted boss battles.

Shadow Labyrinth takes inspiration from the legacy of games in the genre as well as being built using the DNA of Pac-Man. But eagle-eyed gamers have already started to notice clues that Shadow Labyrinth takes place in the larger chronology of the UGSF (United Galaxy Space Force) timeline: a shared universe that connects many of Bandai Namco’s space-themed games. As players explore the massive map of Shadow Labyrinth’s world, they’ll encounter some familiar looking enemies like those from the Dig Dug series, Bosconian, and more. 

Shadow Labyrinth comes to PlayStation 5 on July 18!

The Battle Royale map that started it all is back! Prepare to drop into Verdansk in a huge launch event celebrating the return of the map. Featuring authentic, back-to-basics gameplay with the latest in fan-favorite mechanics, there’s a wide variety of features coming to the game.

Season 3 begins on PS4 and PS5 with Multiplayer and Zombies content coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on April 2 at 9AM PT, followed by the launch of Verdansk in Call of Duty: Warzone  24 hours later on April 3 at 9AM PT.

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Verdansk, rebuilt from the ground up

Like we never left: 150 players. The original announcer. Shooting during freefall. Original Infil cinematics. All before you hit the ground running. 

Original game mechanics: Original Supply Boxes, Floating Loot, Armor Satchels and Buy Station menus, coupled with current Loadouts and Perks, with High Value Loot Zones across the map where some premium loot resides.

QOL updates: A variety of quality-of-life updates also hits Call of Duty: Warzone, including Squad Redeploys at Buy Stations, Attachment descriptions during Weapon Inspects, detailed death recaps in game, a HUD flag so you know exactly when your Loadout is available to buy, and more.

Game modes, events, rewards

Game modes

Play a variety of modes including returning favorites and new ones:

• Battle Royale
• Plunder Quads
• Bootcamp

Plus, get in on the brand-new Battle Royale Casual playlist at launch, featuring 28 players and up to 120 bots, the perfect arena to warm up before the main event.

Return to Verdansk launch event

Reassemble the Squad and drop back into your former stomping grounds for an exciting homecoming. The Return to Verdansk Event takes the form of a series of challenges scattered across 12 distinct zones within Verdansk. Crack all 12 safes to earn the infamous Kali Sticks melee weapon.

Login, Get the Kilo 141

The Kilo 141 Assault Rifle is back and ready to tear it up across Verdansk for old times’ sake. Players will automatically unlock the Kilo 141 for use in Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty: Warzone after logging in to Call of Duty: Warzone following the launch of Season 3 on April 2.

More Verdansk-era Weapons: In addition to the Kali Sticks and Kilo 141, players can earn two more classic Verdansk-era weapons. Get the CR-56 AMAX Assault Rifle and HDR Sniper Rifle, both earnable in the Season 3 Battle Pass.

New multiplayer, Zombies content

Don’t miss out on the Season 3 content coming to Black Ops 6 on April 2. Play multiplayer maps including a remaster of Firing Range and modes like Demolition and Sharpshooter. Plus, explore a diabolical mansion in the woods in the new Zombies map, Shattered Veil.

Season 3 launch intel, Black Ops 6 free trial

Black Ops 6 Multiplayer, Zombies, and General game content drops a day early on Wednesday April 2, 9AM PT. Call of Duty: Warzone content launches across all platforms 24 hours later, on Thursday April 3, 9AM PT.

Free trial: Play all of Black Ops 6 during 24-Hour countdown

Pre-load the game, then access Black Ops 6 as a premium player or via a Free Trial with the entire Season 3 premium game accessible for 24 hours, allowing you to grind out some of the new weapons, including the Kilo 141, CR-56 AMAX, and HDR. Season 3 launches April 2.