The team behind Sonic Mania, Evening Star, is reportedly working on a new Ape Escape project.
Sony is reportedly looking to revive some of its old-school PlayStation franchises, with a new Ape Escape project mentioned by journalist Jeff Gerstmann durring his recent episode of The Jeff Gerstmann Show 226.
Ape Escape is a classic PlayStation platforming series first published by Sony in 1999, followed by sequels in 2002 and 2005. More than two decades later, the dormant franchise could be making a comeback, with Gerstmann recalling that the project was greenlit at the beginning of this year.
“I guess it was like what, beginning of this year we were talking about Ape Escape? So yeah, some other folks have kind of said that they also heard that Ape Escape is being made,” Gerstmann stated (2:15:07 minute-mark).
“I don’t think this game is close to being out or anything like that, but I guess it’s been almost a year since we started talking about Ape Escape around these parts.”
While many would immediately speculate that Astro Bot’s Team ASOBI would take over the Ape Escape project, Gerstmann clarified that an external studio, Evening Star, is reportedly working on it. Evening Star is the team behind the successful 2017’s Sonic Mania and 2024’s Penny’s Big Breakaway.
Gerstmann said he heard about the project some time ago, when development was still in its early stages. “If they’ve been working on it all this time, surely they’ve got something by now.”
Sony reportedly looking to license dormant video game series
VGC has also backed the report, adding that, alongside Ape Escape, Sony may be looking to revive other dormant video game franchises by licensing them to third-party studios.
This would align with the company’s previous move of handing the classic 1997 Everybody’s Golf franchise to Bandai Namco, which developed 2025’s Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots.
The revelation will likely excite many old-school PlayStation fans. While there have been no names attached to potential revivals, we could perhaps see popular dormant series such as Jak and Daxter, Heavenly Sword, or The Getaway make their way back into the modern era.
