Sony debuts a new God of War, and there are too many games in September

Hello there, and welcome to my first-ever non-Friday edition of Campaign Mode! I'm writing this after the June PlayStation State of Play finished, with some fairly big (if admittedly long-rumored) reveals for what's coming next to the PlayStation 5.

This State of Play had some good stuff, with a couple of first-party reveals and some cool third-party titles alike, but it also highlighted a major problem that needs to be fixed soon: There are way too many games set to launch in September.

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The latest State of Play was pretty good, bub

As promised, Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games opened the show, with some gameplay footage and cutscenes showing off how Logan is indeed the best there is at what he does. It's bloody, and the developers aren't shying away from showing the myriad ways he's capable of removing limbs from opponents, even if they're cybernetically-enhanced.

I'm curious to see where the story is going, as Jean Grey is helping Logan to rescue mutants, but an interview has confirmed that this game takes place in a world where the X-Men have not yet been formed. Marvel's Wolverine is launching on Sept. 15, 2026, and while I'm excited, keep that date in mind, it'll be relevant again shortly.

Meanwhile, we also finally got to see Firesprite's Until Dawn 2. Taking the reins from the original game's creators Supermassive Games — who have continued with their own spiritual successors with The Quarry and The Dark Pictures Anthology — Until Dawn features an entirely-new cast of horny idiots, this time focused on ghost hunters exploring a deserted tropical island.

Once again, everyone can live or die based on player choices. Also, Peter Stormare is back. I've got high expectations, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it shapes up when Until Dawn 2 launches sometime in 2027.

To close out the show, PlayStation devoted twenty minutes to the next God of War game from Santa Monica Studio.

Titled God of War Laufey, this game focuses on Faye (Deborah Ann Woll), the wife of Kratos and mother of Atreus whose passing kickstarted the events of the 2018 game. Now, she does appear to have died, and has gone on to the Everywhen, the afterlife of the gods. All the gods, from across every mythology.

Various alliances appear to have formed, as she's almost immediately facing off with Sekhmet and Begtse, who hail from Egyptian and Tibetan mythologies, respectively. Faye has powerful magic, and she's being aided by a gelatinous cube named Phranque (Jack Quaid), as well as Rue (Perlina Lau), a ribbon and the caretaker a magic sword.

God of War Laufey looks extremely interesting, and I absolutely love the concept here. Blending pantheons together while telling Faye's story is a great move, and being set in a godly afterlife means there's a convenient excuse for showing some familiar faces. In particular, I'm expecting to see a certain scheming Greek goddess and a regretful Norse bruiser.

There's no release date right now, but I won't be surprised to see this launch next year.

Several games are all fighting over the same spots

Over on the third-party front, there were several interesting games that got shown off again, this time accompanied by a release date. Control Resonant from Remedy Entertainment, Onimusha: Way of the Sword from Capcom, and Silent Hill: Townfall from Annapurna Interactive all look great. They're also all releasing in the same 48-hour window.

Right now, here's a non-exhaustive look at release dates for games in September, counting only entirely-new releases:

• The Blood of Dawnwalker - Sept. 3
• Marvel's Wolverine - Sept. 15
• Control Resonant - Sept. 24
• Silent Hill: Townfall - Sept. 24
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword - Sept. 25

Noticing a bit of a problem? The particular pileup of those last three games is especially egregious, as I'm fairly certain they all share a significant overlap in audience. Again, this doesn't even count launches for games expanding to new platforms, such as the console release of Dune: Awakening on Xbox and PS5.

I get it, publishers are genuinely terrified of Grand Theft Auto 6, but something has to give! We're not even done with the summer showcase season, and between Summer Game Fest on Friday and the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, I have a feeling September is going to look even more ridiculous. Throw in the likely possibility of a Nintendo Direct? Sheesh.

Assorted news

I'm highlighing some news from across the past week and some change here, since there was no Campaign Mode last Friday.

• CD Projekt RED confirmed that yes, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is getting a new expansion over a decade after launch of the prior expansion, Blood and Wine. Titled Songs of the Past, it returns players to Geralt, and is set to launch at some point in 2027 for Xbox, PC, and PS5.
• The next Call of Duty game is Modern Warfare 4, set against the backdrop of North Korea invading South Korea. The developers at Infinity Ward are touting a focus on grounded realism, meaning no crossover skins that clash with the military tone. It's launching on Oct. 23, 2026 and will be available on Xbox, PC, PS5, and (in a series-first) Nintendo Switch 2. It will not be in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at launch.
• Xbox delayed Playground Games' Fable to February 2027. In a podcast, chief content officer Matt Booty was refreshingly blunt, saying that the fall was extremely packed with games, particular Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6, and they want Fable to have a quieter launch window. At least they didn't try and launch it in September.

Housekeeping

I'm now packing for Summer Game Fest before I fly out to L.A. early Friday, and I'm quite excited! As a reminder, please subscribe so that you don't miss out on anything. I have a lot lined up, and it's going to be a busy week.