They sound concerned
The PlayStation 4 is doing well as the console continues to fortify its foothold this generation, and with exclusive hit Bloodborne just released. But trouble is on the horizon. The are currently no first-party titles officially scheduled for the system during the all-important holiday season. This will surely change, but the company could be in for a rough Christmas.
Sony could announce one or more big first-party games for the PS4 this Christmas at E3, but what can realistically come out in time? Guerrilla Games is working on a new IP, Sony Santa Monica is doing a new God of War, and Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo 7), Quantic Dream, and Media Molecule are working on unannounced projects. In my experience, it seems unlikely that any of those titles are going to be suddenly announced at E3 and then rushed out for a release in 2015.
Perhaps a way forward for Sony this holiday season would be to strike a deal with a third-party title for a timed exclusive. Hello Games' No Man Sky already fits this bill, but at the moment the game only has a nebulous 2015 release date. Hopefully Sony announces a firm holiday release date for the title, and the PS4 gets some bullets back in its chamber.
Last Christmas, Sony's first-party developers neither bombarded the platform nor hit home runs with their holiday titles – with all due respect to Driveclub and LittleBigPlanet 3 – but it didn't hamper the momentum of the PS4 through the holiday season. But if you're Sony, do you want to coast through another holiday season when your main competition is coming to the fight with Halo 5 as well as many of the same third-party titles?
The pressure is on Sony this E3, which should make for an interesting show for the company and possibly an uneasy Christmas.