Sony May Revive Sly Cooper, Ape Escape and Killzone for New PlayStation Games

Sly Cooper, Ape Escape, and Killzone are reportedly among several classic franchises being considered for potential PlayStation revivals.

Sony has been under fire from fans who have been demanding the company to resurrect some of its older and dormant franchises. While the business still churns out massive projects, many PlayStation fans have been clamoring for smaller, more creative experiences using franchises that have been missing for years.

A source with a history of leaking information talked about Sony projects has said that the company is working on a number of game ideas based on popular fan games. Names can be Sly Cooper, Ape Escape, and Killzone. Uncharted was mentioned recently in discussions about Sony reviving old brands that were on the brink of death, although the series hasn’t been fully dead.

Uncharted 4 was the last of the main releases in 2016, followed by Uncharted: The Lost Legacy in 2017. If the claimed development ambitions come to fruition, a new project might be years away. The idea of Sly Cooper and Ape Escape making a comeback is particularly exciting because both games are a throwback to an older style of PlayStation game that has mostly disappeared from the current slate of Sony games.

The alleged pitches seem to be from non-Playstation studios pitching concepts for established properties. Another name that has been linked to a potential comeback is Killzone, reportedly with involvement from Guerrilla and another business. Sly Cooper, meanwhile, might let Sony try with a lesser-budget production.

Sony may be giving its lost PlayStation games a second chance at life.

Fans have been begging Sony to bring back the series ever since Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, the last mainline game from the franchise. Another nice nostalgic one is Ape Escape. The series was closely tied to the first PlayStation and survived into the PS2 era, with a vibrant and silly aesthetic that made it stand out from a lot of Sony’s other blockbuster fare at the time.

Such an effort might leverage the success of AstroBot. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on one giant production, Sony might finance several smaller ventures and see what consumers like. Lost games could be more promising in smaller PlayStation projects.

The idea would let Sony take greater creative chances without every project having to be a smash hit. Think about a lesser Sly Cooper game, for example, which can be made for tens of millions of dollars, not the gigantic budgets that Sony’s biggest first-party games have.

If the project is a hit, Sony might expand the franchise to sequels, merchandising, TV adaptations, and other entertainment. Today’s most successful gaming businesses have potential that goes far beyond selling individual games. So, this would also give Sony a bit more variety in their lineup.

Less expensive franchise revivals might offer new experiences instead of relying so much on expensive AAA games and live-service projects, while seeing if older properties still demand a high market price. For the moment, these projects are only proposals, not confirmed games. If the stated concepts are authorized and proceed to full development, they may be launched years later.

Sly Cooper and Ape Escape could revive some classic PlayStation magic.

Fans may have to wait a few years to see any of these supposed projects come to fruition. That said, the idea of Sony actively researching Sly Cooper, Ape Escape, and Killzone might get longtime PlayStation fans excited. It could also suggest that older properties don’t have to involve big costs to be profitable if they are revived successfully.

Sony can try new things and not risk as much money on the next big thing that could be a disaster. Smaller initiatives with less development costs. If these pitches pay off, PlayStation could once again have the chance to offer a more colorful and adventurous selection of games alongside its flagship games.

The return of Sly Cooper or Ape Escape may, for many longtime fans, feel like a flashback to the PlayStation era of the early 2000s. Nothing official has been announced thus far, but if the suggestions being published are anything to go by, Sony might be trying to go beyond its biggest hits. Should any of these ideas get the green light, fans may finally have another reason to get excited about PlayStation’s dormant archive.