The potential for a new Sly Cooper game from its original development team seems increasingly unlikely following recent comments made by one of Sucker Punch's creative directors. Sucker Punch pioneered the Sly Cooper franchise, and while more recent games featuring the master of the Thievius Raccoonus have been handled by Sanzaru Games, many of fans' most fond memories are tied to the series' early entries.
Along with series like Jak and Daxter and LittleBigPlanet, Sly Cooper is generally considered one of PlayStation's best forgotten franchises from the early 2000s. The first three games in the series were released between 2002 and 2005, and while Sanzaru picked up the reins for anthology The Sly Collection in 2010 and original adventure Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time in 2013, the original trio from Sucker Punch still holds a strong place in the hearts of many gamers.
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Sucker Punch Is Likely Done With Sly Cooper
But recent comments from Sucker Punch co-creative director Nate Fox indicate that there's very little interest from the creative team in reclaiming the anthropomorphic raccoon's franchise. Fox recently appeared on YouTube channel MinnMax, giving quick responses to 125 different questions over the span of about 12 minutes. A few of those questions centered around the Sly Cooper games, and when asked how many team members would be excited if he announced that they would be working on a new title in the series, Fox estimated he would get a positive reaction from just 10 percent of his staff. When the interviewer expressed surprise at this response, Fox pointed to the two decades that have passed since Sucker Punch developed a Sly Cooper game as justification.
Sly Cooper may have been Sucker Punch's first major hit, but it isn't the developer's only claim to fame. It also saw success with the action-adventure series Infamous between 2009 and 2014, and it is currently working on Ghost of Tsushima sequel Ghost of Yotei, which is scheduled for launch on October 2. Asked in the same interview about an old Fox response to a fan letter that claimed the company would lose money if it abandoned Sly Cooper, the creative director humorously addressed that fan, saying, "I hope you like Ghost of Yotei."
Fox's recent comments show no budging from previous statements the studio released in 2022, in which it stated Sucker Punch had no plans to revive Sly Cooper or Infamous. That statement was released in response to rumors that new games for each of those two series were in the works, and while Fox's new comments indicate little interest from Sucker Punch, it seems there are plenty of fans eager to dive into a new adventure with Sly Cooper.
- Released
- September 23, 2002
- ESRB
- E For Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Tobacco Reference
- Developer(s)
- Sucker Punch
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Computer Entertainment
- Engine
- Kinetica
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Platformer, Stealth
