According to insider Nate The Hate, Sony may be about to revive one of its long-dormant IPs. On ResetEra, a user noted that Ape Escape had been hinted at by two different sources and wondered whether Nate knew anything. The insider’s reply was cryptic at first:

As I said a while ago, Sony is looking to bring back some dormant franchises.

However, Nate The Hate quickly followed up with a few more breadcrumbs. Asked whether Team Asobi was involved, he answered simply that it wasn’t being made by the Astro Bot studio. And on whether Bandai Namco had a hand in it, Nate said the Japanese studio wasn’t involved to his knowledge, though he added he’d need to check further to be certain, since it had been a while since he last checked in on the project.

That last detail is perhaps the most intriguing, since referring to it as an actual project implies there’s something concrete in development, rather than just an idea under consideration. Of course, nothing is confirmed yet, and Sony hasn’t said a word about it.

Ape Escape’s significance goes well beyond its cult following. Developed by Sony’s Japan Studio and released on the original PlayStation in 1999, it was the first PlayStation game to require the DualShock controller, using the right analog stick to swing gadgets like the Time Net to catch escaped monkeys wearing Peak Point Helmets. In many ways, it was a showcase for the dual-analog control scheme that every PlayStation controller has used since. Its drum-and-bass soundtrack by Soichi Terada remains a fan favorite, too.

The series continued with Ape Escape 2 and Ape Escape 3 on PlayStation 2, plus a PSP remake of the original and a long string of spin-offs, some of them Japan-only. The Pipo Monkeys even crossed over into Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, with its memorable Snake vs. Monkey minigame (which was maintained in the recent Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remake). The last new entry, PlayStation Move Ape Escape, arrived in 2010 for the PlayStation 3, meaning the franchise has been dormant for 16 years and two whole console generations.

Its original home no longer exists, either. Sony restructured Japan Studio in April 2021, with the remaining team members merged into Team Asobi. That made Asobi the most natural candidate to revive the series, especially since Pipo Monkeys and Spike have popped up as cameos in its Astro games.

With Asobi off the table and Bandai Namco seemingly not involved either, the question of who’s making it remains wide open. If Nate is right, though, PlayStation’s most iconic monkeys could soon be on the loose again.

About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief.

In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech’s gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews.

Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications.

His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.

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