Summary
- Sony might have licensed a MotorStorm revival to support studio Stellar Entertainment, as hinted by the developer's website.
- MotorStorm is a beloved off-road arcade racing franchise from the PS3 era, and has been dormant for 13 years.
- PlayStation has hinted at revitalization plans for legacy IPs, with franchises like Patapon, Freedom Wars, and Everybody's Golf having made comebacks in recent months.
A new finding suggests that Sony may be reviving one of its popular arcade racing franchises from the PlayStation 3 era. Several legacy PlayStation franchises have made a comeback in recent memory, and Sony could be preparing to add a fan-favorite PS3 IP to the list - one that has been dormant for over 13 years.
Over the past few months, Sony has placed a greater emphasis on breathing new life into PlayStation's legacy franchises. Back in December 2024, PlayStation Studio Group CEO Hermen Hulst confirmed that the gaming giant was continually exploring opportunities to leverage its classic IPs in the modern era. This statement came shortly after the release of Helldivers 2's Killzone 2 crossover content, which was received very well by fans of both franchises. Then, in January 2025, PlayStation and Bandai Namco teamed up to release Freedom Wars: Remastered, a revamped iteration of the 2014 PS Vita first-party action RPG.
PlayStation Announces New First-Party Studio
PlayStation adds a new live-service team to its stable of renowned first-party studios, and reveals some details about its project.
After the announcement of Patapon 1+2 Replay and Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots at the March 2025 Nintendo Direct, it became clear that Sony had licensed even more PlayStation IPs to Bandai Namco. Now, it appears another classic Sony franchise could be in line for a revival, as a PlayStation XDEV employee was reportedly seen sharing job listings for Stellar Entertainment, a Dutch studio that notably supported development of 2024's Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered. Stellar Entertainment's website mentions that the studio is currently working on a AAA arcade racing game built in Unreal Engine 5, and some PlayStation fans are speculating that this might be a MotorStorm remake.
Sony May Have Greenlit a MotorStorm Revival
Developed by now-defunct PlayStation first-party team Evolution Studios, MotorStorm was Sony's premier arcade racing game series in the PS3 days. It was heavily centered around off-road racing, with players participating in the fictional MotorStorm festival and blasting through cross-country tracks in buggies, ATVs, bikes, rally cars, racing trucks, etc. The first MotorStorm game launched in March 2007 in the US and turned out quite successful, with three million copies sold in its lifetime. Four more MotorStorm games followed, with the last entry releasing in 2012 on PS3 and PS Vita. Since then, the MotorStorm IP has laid dormant, and is frequently brought up by PlayStation fans as a franchise that Sony should revisit, especially given the dearth of off-road-focused arcade racing games these days.
Driveclub Was Another PlayStation Arcade Racer, Albeit Not as Fondly Remembered
Interestingly, MotorStorm isn't the only Evolution-developed arcade racing game in PlayStation's back-catalog, as the studio also released Driveclub as a year-one PS4 title in 2014. Driveclub was heavily praised for its incredibly realistic visuals and audio design, which remain impressive even to this day. Unfortunately, Driveclub's critical reception was rather lukewarm, with reviewers noting that the single-player mode was rather dull and the physics and AI weren't quite up to par with other arcade racers. Regardless, there's some demand among fans for Sony to give the Driveclub IP another shot, that too with an open-world format to better compete with the Forza Horizon series.
Only time will tell whether Stellar Entertainment is working on a MotorStorm or Driveclub revival, and there's also the possibility that the project is a new IP altogether. However, given Stellar Entertainment's standing as a support studio, the chances of it developing a fully original game are lower.
