How a new SOCOM PS5 game could restore the series to its former glory

A new SOCOM game is among our most wanted PS5 games from PlayStation Studios. The series was considered to be among the best shooters the industry could produce, particularly when you look back at the best PS2 games era and the earliest days of the PlayStation Network. Sadly, SOCOM never got the time and attention it deserved on PS4, and there's still no SOCOM PS5 game in sight. 

With military sims growing in popularity, and with the rise of live service shooters, there's arguably never been a better time for SOCOM to make a return – be it for PS5 or PSVR 2. While we wish upon a star for a new SOCOM game, why don't you take a look below for all of the rumors that have been circulating around the highly requested military shooter.  

SOCOM PS5 rumors

It's been over a decade since the last SOCOM game landed in our hands, and the rumor mill hasn't stopped churning since. Back in 2019, insiders suggested that Killzone developer Guerrilla Games was working on a multiplayer-focused SOCOM revival, although we haven't heard anything about the project since. 

So, could Guerrilla have a second team making a SOCOM PS5 game, alongside the work completed on Horizon Forbidden West? It's difficult to say, however two years ago Rainbow Six Siege director Simon Larouche joined the studio, as well as Siege designer Chris Lee who also worked on SOCOM. Rainbow Six Siege and SOCOM share a lot of DNA as stern online team shooters with no respawns. So, while it’s not a confirmation, it’s hard to imagine PlayStation using that expertise to make a game that didn’t have a whiff of its old franchise around it. 

Sony has recently shifted its focus internally. While the company is known for building cinematic third-person action adventure games, it has been noted that the PlayStation Studios group wants to get 11 live services multiplayer games out on PS5 in the next three years – with two set to release in 2022. 

SOCOM would be a perfect candidate for Sony's renewed interest in multiplayer, here's why:

SOCOM's return is long overdue

If things like God of War and the Resident Evil 2 remake have taught us anything it’s that gamers love a familiar face. Publishers love them too because the existing brand awareness makes it a lot less riskier than trying to win people over with a new name. It’s a game that’s been away a while but never fails to see rumours or its return answered with interest and excitement - there’s a clear demand and PlayStation would be stupid not to think about cashing in on it.  

SOCOM was a multiplayer game ahead of its time

While the original SOCOM games had basic single-player missions, it was really all about the multiplayer. Even though when it originally arrived on PS2 in 2002 it landed on a console that didn’t even have an internet connection - you had to buy a separate Network Adaptor to be able to plug into a dial-up modem. Even so, it collected a legion of fans that still want a return and has stockpiled buzz over the years that would make a comeback a welcome return.

Games as a service shooters are a perfect home for a new SOCOM

SOCOM was one of those games that was held back by its campaign. It was okay, but the real draw has always been the testing multiplayer. Trouble is for most of SOCOM’s life, online-only games weren’t really a thing on console. Now, however, the market has shifted - games like Rainbow Six Siege or Overwatch, along with Fortnite and all the other battle royales have created a big online-only business that would be perfect to focus SOCOM on what it does best. 

Rainbow Six Siege proves there’s a market for tough team-based shooters

For a long time console multiplayer tended to always be team deathmatches fueled by occasional objectives and endless respawns. The success of Siege, however, has shown you can make a ruthless, ‘dead means dead’ shooter that is both a critical and commercial success. Rainbow Six’s take is basically a spiritual successor to SOCOM as well with its more ‘realistic’ take on military action and gunplay, the odd outlandish gadget and character notwithstanding. 

The esports industry would lap it up 

SOCOM is all about tension and last-second clutches. It’s a series with a traditionally rock bottom time to kill where, in many games, the first and only gunshot you’d hear would be the one that sent you back to the lobby to spectate the rest of the match. Games could last a few explosive seconds, or draw out into agonising minutes as teams whittled away each others’ numbers until only a few survivors remained - the last few players creeping cautiously around corners and jumping at the slightest noise. It’s perfect entertainment.