Dreams release date, beta – what we know so far about the PlayStation game

DREAMS is a game for making games.

It will feature a pre-built 'campaign' of sorts that will show players what's possible, but ultimate Dreams is meant as a platform for player-created content.

Everything in Dreams, from the artwork to the music to the animation, will be creatable using a standard PS4 controller, or with a pair of Move motion controllers.

And you can literally create... anything.

Is Dreams a game?

Technically, yes.

And there will be plenty to play with, but it also has all the tools you need to create your own things, and to explore what everyone else has created.

The 'Dream Surfing' mode is effectively a story mode, built by the developers of Dreams using their own tools.

But then there's 'Dream Shaping', which lets anyone create new experiences from scratch, or by remixing content that already exists.

In this mode you can create almost any sort of game you want to -- but you can also just create artwork, music, or anything else.

At Sony's E3 2019 showcase, for instance, there was a live music performance entirely using tools created in Dreams, with musicians on stage controlling music-playing fruit.

There really do appear to be no limits to what you can create.

Is there a beta?

There is, though its first phase is almost finished now.

It was delayed from 2016 to the end of 2018, and the sorts of things being created are now being shown off.

The things being shown off are everything from recreations of Bilbo Baggins' home at Bag End to digital paintings, puzzle books, recreations of classic games from Dead Space to Tomb Raider and more.

All the elements are saved individually to the 'Dreamverse', so you can stitch together other people's creations into your own vision.

This means if you've got an idea for the mechanics of a game, you can create it entirely using music, artwork and characters from other people's work -- but also, if you just want to create characters, or create digital art, you can focus on those and see what other people do with them.

If you want to see what people have created so far, search for #DreamsPS4 on YouTube or Twitter and you'll find loads.

When is it coming out?

Dreams is currently due at some point in 2019, though it doesn't have a release date yet.

The release date was originally meant to be in  2016, but that slipped twice.

The state of the beta and the quality of creations pouring out of it all point to Dreams being out in 2019, though.

There's also the small matter of the PS5 probably launching in 2020 -- and it Dreams has to be out before then.

Right?