Rumors are flying that Evening Star, the developer behind Sonic Mania, is working on a new Ape Escape game, the first since 2011’s PlayStation Move Ape Escape, created for the PS3 wand peripheral. Word has come from both Jeff Gerstmann and VGC that the classic series is due to be brought back, with Sony also investigating other licenses it owns that could be due a revival.
Ape Escape first appeared in 1999 for the original PlayStation, a third-person 3D platform game in which you, a human boy called Spike, are tasked with recapturing…well, some apes that escaped, using a range of gadgetry and vehicles in your pursuit. Hugely loved at the time, and fondly remembered ever since, the game went on to spawn 14 spin-offs and sequels, including mini-game collections, a version for the PS2’s EyeToy, and even an RPG. The assumption is, should the series return, it would be in the form of a new entry in the core series, which last appeared with 2005’s Ape Escape 3.
In the latest episode of The Jeff Gerstmann Show, the titular Jeff Gerstmann mentions that he’s now heard others talking about an Ape Escape resurrection, while reflecting on word he’d heard about eight months back that Evening Star could be working on the project. His relatively non-committal comments suggest he believes it may still be in development, but this has since been further backed up by VGC which says it’s heard the same from its own sources.
VGC says Sony is looking to follow up last year’s revival of Everybody’s Golf by bringing back the Killzone series from the dead 13 years after its last entry, Killzone Shadow Fall. Meanwhile, yesterday saw another flurry of rumors about the possibility of a revival for Uncharted which, extraordinarily, is coming up on a decade since its last new entry.
Ape Escape has always been something of a pioneer for Sony’s peripheral technology, with the first game being the first ever PlayStation release to require the DualShock controller. The EyeToy was required for Monkey Mania, while 2005’s Ape Escape Academy used the PSP’s wifi to allow four-player games, and the most recent entry was for the PlayStation Move. Given just how under-utilized the incredible DualSense controller has been on the PS5 despite being so splendidly shown off in the Astro Bot games, perhaps all its bells and whistles could be employed in more inventive ways should this project prove true. Or, heck, it could be intended to promote whatever might be new in the PS6.
