Iron Man VR, Mortal Kombat 11 and other highlights from Sony's State of Play livestream

While Apple was busy making a play today for its own gaming service, the folks at Sony also unveiled a host of new games for both its VR and PS4 platforms, along with a host of other announcements at the company's State of Play Livestream earlier today. 

First, the one that's likely to dominate the conversation is the launch of Iron Man VR, a virtual reality game that puts you inside Tony Stark — and more importantly, inside his Iron Man armor. Which, incidentally, was designed for the game by none other than Adi Granov, the comic book artist who was hand-picked by Jon Favreau to design the suit for the first Iron Man film.

No gameplay was shown in the presentation, but the animated cutscene of Iron Man rescuing a crashing plane mid-flight was pretty impressive. Iron Man VR also promised to include cameos from some of The Armored Avenger's closest allies and worst supervillains as he jets around the globe to save the world — and himself. 

There's not an official launch date just yet, but Sony's promising this will be available sometime in 2019. 

An existing PS4 game is also getting the VR treatment, the open-galaxy explorer No Man's Sky. While the game has never quite lived up to expectations, Sony's hoping to right the ship with No Man's Sky VR, which will come as part of the free No Man's Sky: Beyond update due out sometime this summer. 

No Man's Sky VR won't be a stand-alone game, but rather a way to experience the existing game in true first-person style. The update will also include multiplayer and social features, so players can interact with one-another in the virtual spacescape. 

"By bringing full VR support, for free, to the millions of players already playing the game, No Man’s Sky will become perhaps the most owned VR title when released, which is weird to think about," said Hello Games about the update. 

Other VR titles were mentioned throughout as well, including a teaser trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted, and a look at the sci-fi thriller Observation, which got a May 21st release date. There was also a story trailer for the British crime drama Blood and Truth and some gameplay footage of Ready Set Heroes. 

Though the VR component was clearly the star of Sony's State of Play event, they did spend some time discussing a few highly-anticipated PS4 titles. Namely, Mortal Kombat 11, which showed off some of the franchise's best-known characters facing off against doppelganger versions of themselves. 

Of course, it's done with all the glorious blood and guts we've come to expect from the franchise. And you can experience it all for yourself on Apr. 23, when Mortal Kombat 11 will give new meaning to "check yourself before you wreck yourself."

The apocalyptic biker game Days Gone also got a new story trailer, which shows how its main character, Deacon St. John, deals with a frighteningly real take on life after zombies. You can live the experience yourself when the game becomes available for purchase on Apr. 26. 

Last but not least, the event included some in-game footage of Concrete Genie, featuring a graffiti artist's work come to life, which he uses to save his town from being consumed by darkness. Think of it as a modern, urban spin on Okami, which will be available for purchase this fall. 

All in all, Sony's continuing to crank out new titles for its aging PS4 console, even though the company is clearly adding some desirable features to its VR platform. With No Man’s Sky, it’s even opening up the immersive experience as a playable feature for standard console games.

Which Sony gaming titles are you most looking forward to this year? Let us know in the comments.