Ape Escape started out as one of the most recognizable Sony franchises in PlayStation’s early days. The series has been dormant for years, outside of a cameo in Astro Bot, but reports suggest a new game is coming as part of a new wave of PlayStation revivals
The word going around is that Sony is looking to resurrect old IPs. A Killzone rumor suggests a remaster or remake is coming, further stoking the fire. Sony has an exhausting back catalog of PlayStation IPs that can return, but it would be like slipping on a banana peel if Ape Escape wasn’t one.
Ape Escape in Development?
According to credible game journalist Jeff Gerstmann (and VGC sources), Ape Escape is currently in development, and from the sound of it, it’s unclear if this is a remake or a brand-new game.
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Gerstmann said (on The Jeff Gerstmann Show) that Evening Star, co-founded by Christian Whitehead, is reportedly making the game, the developers of Sonic Mania, and explained what he’d heard:
“So yeah, some other folks have kind of said that they also heard that Ape Escape is being made. I don’t think this game is close to being out or anything like that, but I guess it’s been almost a year since we started talking about Ape Escape.
Who is making it? That’s a good question. My understanding is that it’s an external studio. You know, because people were immediately like, ‘Oh, Team Asobi is making it.’ My understanding is that an external team has been working on that. What do they make…Penny’s Big Breakaway. Evening Star. I heard that they were working on it.
At the time that I initially heard it, it sounded like it was a game that had been like just barely greenlit and like wasn’t really, you know, like that it was kind of just getting underway. You know, not necessarily the most corroborated, multiple-source thing, but that is what I heard about an Ape Escape Game. And I heard that, well, gosh… I mean, I was asking people questions at DICE this year about this Ape Escape game. So that was February. So there ya go.”
There didn’t look like a future for Ape Escape, especially after Shuhei Yoshida’s revelation that Japan Studio was closed because PlayStation didn’t want AA games.
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This included Ape Escape. Hopefully, this is a new beginning for many new PlayStation franchises that are long overdue for a new release.
Ready for a hit of pure nostalgia and dopamine? Here’s the incredible Ape Escape 3 trailer. Take us back!
What would you give for a new Ape Escape game? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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