The latest PlayStation State of Play was livestreamed on February 12, and it promised much for the future of the PlayStation 5. It was covered by a huge number of channels, including some of the biggest names in the content creation world. This helped it end among the series most popular iterations and outperform Nintendo's recent video game showcase.
The State of Play February 12, 2026 was packed with announcements for fans of the latest generation of Sony's legendary console. It included surprise new reveals, impending demos and updates about upcoming titles from third-party partners.
If readers are wondering what caused such a massive surge of activity for updates related to arguably the most popular console on earth, there were some pretty big reasons. Perhaps none was bigger than the announcement of a remake of the original God of War trilogy alongside the surprise reveal of God of War: Sons of Sparta, which is out now on the PS5.
Moreover, the legendary Castlevania franchise is getting a new title to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Konami announced that Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, a stylized 2D game from Evil Empire and Motion Twin, is set to be released in 2026.
Konami also had good news for fans of the iconic Metal Gear series in the form of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2. It will package together remasters of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
The series's first portable title, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, will also be available as a bonus title along with some extras that’ll thrill long-term fans of Konami's stealth series. All this will be launched on August 27, 2026, for the PlayStation 5.
Last but not least, John Wick himself is coming to the PS5. Saber Interactive is working with the creators of the action movie franchise to create a previously unseen chapter in the life of Baba Yaga, with players set to play as the feared assassin himself.
The studio is promising the signature elements from John Wick movies to be present in the game, from the unique use of camerawork, bold and cinematic environments, and extremely distinctive gun-fu action and intense driving experiences. The game is coming to PS5, but the release date and official title are not yet known.
With so much packed into a run time of around an hour and 45 minutes, the early 2026 State of Play edition reached a whopping 2.2 million Peak Viewers (PV). This put it as the series's second most popular entry, with only the June 4 showcase from 2025 doing better. It also became the first State of Play showcase to surpass the 3 million Hours Watched (HW) mark.
Most popular and watched State of Play showcases
The official English channel, PlayStation, attracted the highest audience for a single moment, peaking at 580,498 viewers. This put it among the most popular channels over the past week across livestreaming platforms, with this list dominated by YouTube organization channels.
Most crucially, the State of Play February 12, 2026 attracted much higher audience numbers across the board compared to another prominent series, the Nintendo Direct. The Japanese giant's latest video game showcase, held on February 5, drew in around 1.5 million peak viewers.
The Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase - 05.02.2026 also reached just over 1 million HW over around an hour of airtime. While the coverage for both tech companies' showcases was high across platforms, the sheer number of channels livestreaming Sony's event was massive, totaling 3361, compared to 847 for Nintendo.
The language dynamics also point to how both firms are viewed by audiences around the globe. Nintendo's livestream was heavily covered by Japanese channels, pointing to its prevalence among gamers from its homeland. The language took up almost 60% of the latest Partner Showcase's watch time.
Meanwhile, the State of Play provoked heavy engagement among Western audiences and streamers, with English contributing over 63% to its overall watch time. Both showcases were mostly seen by viewers on YouTube, but what made a big difference was the interest shown by community streamers.
Nintendo and Sony's broadcasts received most of their viewership from co-casters, totaling at least 98% of the overall watch time. However, the sheer number of channels to tune into the latter's broadcast pushed it towards notching much higher viewership figures across the board.
Among the top influencers who ensured to catch up on the announcements was Zack "zackrawrr" Hoyt, one of the most eminent content creators in the English-speaking space. He was joined by other prominent names like Juan "illojuan" García, Gianmarco "tumblurr" Tocco and Alan "alanzoka" Ferreira, all representing different communities and languages but united in their love for video games.
There was a lot more that Sony revealed to fans and viewers during the State of Play February 12, 2026, and they can view the entire line-up here. What this livestream did prove was the unmistakable draw that is the PlayStation, as updates related to its ninth generation of video game consoles continue to see engagement from millions of viewers from across the globe.
Header image via Kojima Productions
