PlayStation Franchises Unlikely To Make A Comeback

For thirty years, the PlayStation brand has managed to amass numerous franchises that have made a huge impact on the industry in one way or another. However, when compared to its competitors, Sony is not as consistent with their IPs and is much more likely to fully ignore some of them.

Of course, there are iconic PlayStation franchises that will never stop releasing new entries, like Ratchet & Clank or God of War, but there are also plenty of others that are most likely never going to return, and it’s a real shame because, in the past, they have captivated thousands of gamers with some fun experiences.

1 Ape Escape

Wacky 3D Platformers By A Now Defunct Studio

Ape Escape is a distinctive platforming/adventure franchise that’s centered on the premise of capturing zany, cartoony apes. These games shined because of their hilarious sense of humor, innovative control scheme, and satisfying gameplay, to the point that Pipo Monkeys were considered one of Sony’s primary mascots at one point.

Unfortunately, Ape Escape has been dormant for over fourteen years, with their last game being a PlayStation Move entry from 2010. The tragic absence of these crazy primates can be chalked up to several different reasons. Sony has evidently shifted their focus onto more mainstream and conventional platforming franchises, like Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper, and Japan Studio – the Japanese studio responsible for Ape Escape – was closed down in 2021, with most of their flagship IPs disappearing alongside them.

2 Wipeout

Sony’s Iconic Futuristic Racing Franchise Has Disappeared

When it comes to futuristic racing games, Nintendo has F-Zero, and Sony has Wipeout. These incredible and speedy racers were a pillar of the PlayStation 1’s catalog and have remained relevant among players for a good number of years. But this sadly changed in 2012, when Psygnosis, the studio that developed them, was closed down.

Ever since this unfortunate closure, the development of new Wipeout entries has slowed down significantly, as its last two released games were a remastered collection and an obscure mobile game. Without Psygnosis, and with Sony seemingly becoming disinterested in unrealistic racing games like these, it’s becoming less and less likely for Wipeout to ever come back.

3 MediEvil

A Unique Series That Never Got The Treatment It Deserved

Longtime PlayStation fans are fond of MediEvil, a duology of action/adventure games for the PS1 that has a fascinating Tim Burton-esque art style and simple but effective gameplay. On top of that, Sir Daniel Fortesque is a charismatic protagonist who has made multiple appearances in other games, like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Astro’s Playroom.

So it’s shocking that, despite its popularity, MediEvil is only made up of four games, two of which are remakes of the first title. Guerrilla Cambridge, the studio that created this series, was shut down in 2017, while Other Ocean Interactive, developers of the 2019 remake, has not worked with Sony since the release of said game. It’s most likely that the company just doesn’t see the value in MediEvil, and that they believe this is an obscure franchise that is not worth maintaining.

4 Jak And Daxter

Naughty Dog Makes Entirely Different Games Now

The PlayStation 2 era was the best time for fans of 3D platforming mascots, as Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, and Jak and Daxter coexisted simultaneously and delivered fun adventures. However, as its contemporaries moved on to the next generation of consoles, Jak and Daxter got stuck on the PS2 (except for a few remasters).

This franchise is beloved by PlayStation fans due to its loveable main characters, refreshing gameplay, and bold change in tone, but it’s evident that neither Sony nor the original developer, Naughty Dog, is interested in making any more sequels. Naughty Dog in particular has now moved on to darker and more mature games, like Uncharted and The Last of Us. And while Sony could easily hand development over to another studio (like they did with Sly Cooper), this still has never materialized.

5 Fat Princess

A Popular Multiplayer Experience With A Tasteless Premise

Fat Princess was one of the biggest unexpected hits of 2009. Developed by Titan Studios, this was quite a unique multiplayer game in which players had to rescue their respective princess and take her back to their base. But opponents could also feed her pieces of cake, making her heavier and harder to transport. This was an odd premise, to say the least, but it was well received, cementing Fat Princess as one of PlayStation’s biggest new franchises.

It eventually got a few sequels, and the titular character was even a playable fighter in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. However, Fat Princess has been nowhere to be seen since 2015, and many fans are wondering what happened. There are two explanations for this: on one hand, Titan Studios was dissolved and Fun Bits Interactive (developers of some of the sequels) hasn’t been active for years. On the other hand, the concept of Fat Princess could be deemed as too insensitive to today’s modern sensibilities, so it’s most likely Sony doesn’t want to release a game that could potentially create a big controversy for them.

6 Heavenly Sword

An Epic Hack & Slash Adventure, Created By A Studio That Was Snatched By The Competition

Released in 2007, Heavenly Sword was one of the PlayStation 3’s sleeper hits. This is a very solid hack & slash game with impressive graphics that showed off the power of Sony’s HD console, not to mention that it also featured a dynamic combat system and an interesting protagonist named Nariko. It was not a perfect game - with many critics claiming it was too similar to God of War - but it was a solid first entry in a franchise that was brimming with potential.

However, a follow-up to Heavenly Sword never ended up happening. The first game was developed by Ninja Theory, and the studio had many plans for a sequel, but they ended up moving on to other projects. It was reported that Guerrilla Cambridge was working on another Heavenly Sword sequel, but Sony ended up canceling it because they didn’t deem the IP as a commercially viable product. The worst part of the story is that Ninja Theory was later acquired by Microsoft in 2018, which made it almost impossible for Nariko to ever return.

7 Killzone

The Industry Isn’t Obsessed With First-Person Shooters Anymore

During the mid-2000s to early 2010s, almost the entire Western gaming market was filled to the brim with military first-person shooters, caused mainly by Call of Duty’s sudden rise in popularity. Sony was no exception, as they began publishing several solid exclusives that belonged to this trendy genre, and Killzone was one of their most successful ones.

Devised by Guerrilla Games, these were high-quality FPSs with a dark sci-fi twist, solid gunplay, and a prominent online component. Despite these positive characteristics, Killzone 3 got quite a mixed reception and Killzone Shadow Fall (which was a launch title for the PlayStation 4) received extremely negative reviews. While this definitely doomed the franchise, Guerrilla Games managed to move on to the popular Horizon franchise, which is far more unique and refreshing than Killzone. As a result, it seems that the studio is going to keep focusing on its new IP in the future.

8 Resistance

Insomniac Is Prioritizing More Creative Endeavors

It’s truly unbelievable how the FPS trend of the seventh generation of consoles also affected Insomniac Games, creators of colorful franchises like Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank. From 2006 to 2011, they released the Resistance trilogy for PlayStation 3, a series of sci-fi first-person shooters with an apocalyptic alien invasion plot. As expected from a studio as respected as Insomniac, these were critically acclaimed FPSs with solid gameplay and a relatively popular multiplayer mode, even though they are much more serious and darker than the games they usually develop.

But, after the release of Resistance 3, Insomniac explicitly stated that they were not interested in making games like this anymore. Nowadays, they are busy working on more colorful and creative experiences, like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart or Marvel’s Spider-Man, which is much more fitting for them. Sony could easily hire another studio to make new Resistance games, but it’s clear that there’s currently not as much demand for dark first-person shooters in the market anymore.