The makers of Ratchet and Clank turned their attention to Facebook last year, creating Outernauts, a hip, Pokémon-style battle game with absolutely splendid art design. Today Insomniac revealed plans to shut down the game's web presence on January 31, focusing on making a mobile version more people might play.

For those of you allergic to Facebook, Insomiac's monster-collecting social game Outernauts is now on Kongregate.

Players expecting something more than standard Facebook fare from the developer of Ratchet & Clank's first foray into the social gaming world were somewhat disappointed by Outernauts' strong reliance on things like asking friends for help or waiting for energy to refill. Yesterday's major game update should make those…

If you buy the argument that there are people who make real video games and there are people who make things that merely pose as video games—and if you are convinced that these fake "games" threaten to undermine real video games—then a game called Outernauts should have filled you with hope.

Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac ventures out into the wilds of Facebook today, inviting players from across the known galaxy to capture and battle the exotic alien beasts of Outernauts. I'm going to catch them all, this I swear.

Breaking with a long tradition of creating Sony-exclusive console titles, the studio behind Ratchet & Clank and Resistance brings the full weight of its wit and style to bear in Outernauts, a quirky new adventure role-playing game... for Facebook.