Note: Be sure to check out the above video after the article. As I went into more detail on certain things in each one.
It’s been awhile since I discussed Sly Cooper. But why is it so much harder for Sly to return than other PS IP’s? That’s what I’ll be discussing today.
After the release of Sly 4, it’s kind of hard to Not as this question. Because Sly 5 hasn’t released yet, the Movie got revealed then shelved for a TV show, which was because of Ratchet & Clank’s box office performance.
But no other Playstation IP has gone through what Sly has. Closest being the Uncharted series, with it’s film just now making actual progress. But it still had more games releasing in the meantime.
Jak & Daxter I could say got better treatment as Sly, seeing as Naughty Dog decided to end the series with Jak X. Because they thought that they would be doing fans a disservice by doing so.
While Insomniac Games kept releasing Ratchet & Clank games almost every year, even after Naughty Dog & Sucker Punch Productions stopped making the Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter series. Like it was a main PS IP, which I believe it is. Of course it’s been a little more than 3-years since we’ve seen the lombax/robot duo.
Back to Sly, it’d seem that Sony doesn’t care about the Sly IP. But it’s actually just the opposite case. Which might explain why we haven’t got anything Sly in so long.
Like the sales combined with the mixed fan reactions of Sly 4 for instance. Could be a factor of why we haven’t got Sly 5 yet. Then the Movie trailer released as another way of building interest in the series. Again more mixed reactions with Sly’s voice & the other Cooper Gang’s redesigns. Unfortunately, Ratchet & Clank’s box office performance preventing Sly’s film from happening for now.
That right there probably is when Sony decided to step in and make a partnership with Technicolor Animation Productions & PGS Entertainment for the TV Show. Which was revealed a year after Ratchet & Clank’s film released.
Then we had the plot synopsis release, which got some fans worried it’ll be like Sonic Boom. The show then shifted from pre-production back to development, probably as a form of restructering for the show.
Well I guess what also happened after Ratchet & Clank’s film release, Sony decided to make their own studio for adapting their PS IP’s to film & TV shows. Because their more familiar with their own series than other studios would be.
This also got me thinking about a similarly possible situation on the game side of things and why we don’t have Sly 5 yet. Could be because of Sanzaru Games (not their fault though, as it’s Sony’s choice for Sly 5 to happen), the devs of Sly 4. Now I’m Not saying they did a terrible job or anything. Because they did make a good Sly game. Like I said before, sales & reviews could’ve had something to do with it.
So let’s look at the sales according to VG Chartz.
Sly 4 on PS3 sold about 580K units total worldwide.
While Sly 4 on PS Vita sold about 270K units total worldwide.
Add that all together and you get about 850K units altogether. Now let’s compare this to another end of PS3 Gen game from later that same year.
Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus sold about 690K units total worldwide. It was released for only the PS3 & launched about a week before the PS4’s launch.
So R&C:ITN sold less than Sly 4, but managed to get another game while Sly didn’t. I understand it was because of the film, but it could’ve been because it was Insomniac Games (the original creators & developers of R&C) that made ITN. So they understood it better than another development studio would. Which resulted in almost no complaints from the fans outside of ITN’s short length.
Whereas Sly 4 (which was Not made by the original devs, Sucker Punch) had numerous complaints from fans in multiple areas. And Sony knows that Sly is one of their mot popular IP’s, so they don’t particularly want that to fade away because of complaints. Perhaps Sony is looking for another studio to handle the Sly series. Going by this Tweet by Colin Moriarty, that could very well be the case.
Remember, Moriarty has his sources from when he used to work at IGN’s Playstation division. Even so, I’d still take this with a grain of salt.
So in short, Sony does care for their IP’s including Sly Cooper. Which might be why it’s taking Sly so long to return, because Sony wants to make sure it’s done right.
As for the game side of things again, something must’ve happened with Sly 4 that Sony wasn’t quite satisfied with. Now don’t go thinking this’ll be another Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier situation where the game was handled by another studio, sold well (TLF sold over 1 Million units, combined PS2 & PSP sales). And never got another game, but both games had mixed reactions from long time fans.
So what do you guys think about this? Please be sure to let me know in the comments below.
And that’s about all I got for now, so stay tuned for more video gaming news coming to you at the speed of sound. Don’t forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, Share or Follow for more videos & articles, as I’ve got more on the way. Until then you can catch me over at these places,
YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8rkBGwt6BvaV3HkQ2cxdg
Backup YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU7Rf_HiHSpUFBDgZcM-XZg
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BlueknightV2.0Channel/
Sonic Stadium:
https://board.sonicstadium.org/profile/43022-blueknight-v20/
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Blueknightv2
Become a patron for as little as $1 per month can help this site and channel become a next level source for video gaming news
Twitter:
Blueknight V2.0 
Leave a Reply