The rumoured return of Ape Escape has picked up some more convincing support, with journalist Jeff Gerstmann and VGC both naming Evening Star as the studio working on it. That’s the developer behind Penny’s Big Breakaway, founded by members of the Sonic Mania team, in case you didn’t know the name.
Speaking on The Jeff Gerstmann Show, Gerstmann said his understanding was that an external studio was handling the project, addressing speculation that Astro Bot developer Team Asobi might be responsible. He then specifically named Evening Star, saying: “Penny’s Big Breakaway. Evening Star. I heard that they were working on it.”
VGC’s Jordan Middler has since backed up the claim, stating that it matches what the outlet has heard from its own sources. That gives the rumour a fair bit more weight, although Sony hasn’t announced anything yet.
As for when we might actually get to catch some monkeys, Gerstmann’s information suggests there’s still a wait ahead. He said the project sounded like it had only recently been greenlit when he first heard about it, and recalled asking people about the game at D.I.C.E. in February this year.
“If they’ve been working on it all this time, I’m sure they’ve got something by now,” he said, before adding that “this is not a game that is probably going to get like announced and released this year or anything like that.”
That doesn’t rule out an announcement by itself, but there’s no release window to work with here. Gerstmann also qualified his information as “not necessarily the most corroborated” or a “multiple source thing”, which makes VGC’s additional reporting useful.
This ties neatly into the report I covered a few days ago about Sony opening up its dormant franchises to third-party developers. ResetEra user thiserfan claimed Sony was accepting pitches involving the likes of Ape Escape, Killzone and Sly Cooper. VGC now says it has heard from multiple sources that Sony is looking to revive older franchises through licensing agreements with smaller external studios.
VGC does not specify which games are apparently being brought back, but there’s a strong chance Killzone is one of them, and that People Can Fly is working on it right now.
