Sonic Mania creators Evening Star is reportedly working on a revival of PlayStation’s much-loved Ape Escape franchise, according to reports from gaming journalist Jeff Gerstmann and VGC.
“So yeah, some other folks have kind of said that they also heard that Ape Escape is being made,” Gerstmann commented on his latest podcast episode. “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.” VGC’s sources also claim that Evening Star is indeed developing a new 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 (Astro Bot) 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.
The news comes following reports that Sony is looking to revive a number of classic franchises and is now accepting pitches for such revivals. Among these include obviously Ape Escape as mentioned, but also Killzone and Sly Cooper, the former of which is believed to be in the works at People Can Fly. Supposedly, the first wave of these revivals are set to arrive around the time of the PS6 launch, but nothing official has been announced yet.
[Source – Jeff Gerstmann Podcast, VGC]