Sly Cooper Revival Rumors Intensify Ahead of PlayStation State of Play Showcase

As State of Play is now just days away, the anticipation level among the PlayStation fan base continues to escalate. There has been a lot of anticipation building around this event due to several weeks of speculation, news that the State of Play would be shown in movie theaters, and speculation about what Sony would announce. 

When people think about PlayStation over the last few years, the management of legacy franchises has been one of the most-discussed topics. This is because Sony holds vast amounts of legacy intellectual property that they haven't developed in years, even though fans demand they do. Whenever there's talk about the PlayStation franchises that have been ignored for too long, Infamous always comes up as well.

People really hope Sony releases remastered versions of the first two games, at the very least. Moreover, another franchise keeps popping up whenever this topic arises. Not many dormant PlayStation franchises receive as much hype as Sly Cooper does. Sly Cooper has had quite an avid fanbase for a long time now, and any rumors or teasers about Sly Cooper end up receiving a lot of attention. This exact scenario has played out in the lead-up to the next State of Play.

There has been speculation about the possibility of the Sly Cooper franchise being developed again.

Although nothing has been officially announced yet, this theory has been bolstered by social media buzz, community investigations, and reports from ex-developers of the Sly Cooper franchise. In the case of Sly Cooper, which is still in development, most people think it would definitely be one of those titles Sony can announce with just a teaser trailer.

Unlike an entirely unknown franchise, the Sly Cooper series would certainly draw a positive reaction just because of what it represents. Gameplay would not be necessary for the success of such an announcement, since simply knowing that Sly Cooper is back would excite many PlayStation fans. This has been further heightened by the creators of Astro Bot, called Team ASOBI, having tweeted recently on their social media account, "If you can't find Sly, look to the nearest safe."

While the post may appear innocent at first glance, it must be remembered that Team ASOBI is no stranger to commemorating and celebrating PlayStation history and iconic franchise titles through Astro Bot material. What really raised suspicion about this post was its timing. Team ASOBI usually posts this kind of content on Wednesdays. This particular post came out on a Tuesday right before State of Play.

The small detail seemed innocuous enough but would soon become a source of much interest among fans. This interest was fueled by the post's high level of engagement. It was viewed almost 192,000 times, and it got nearly 2,600 likes, all this in just a few hours since its posting. This number is far beyond what Team ASOBI could achieve through other social media posts that managed to get only 17,000, 24,000, 21,000, and 39,000 views, respectively.

With the upcoming State of Play, people were sure the numbers would keep growing.

This has led some to wonder whether Team ASOBI would even post about Sly Cooper ahead of the PlayStation showcase without intending to announce anything related to it. While others think that it is merely a fun tease and does not indicate any announcement. Regardless of intent, this reaction shows just how excited fans are about a new Sly Cooper game.

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The strange timing is even more noticeable when we consider the team's previous use of social media. While the studio has mentioned other PlayStation classics in its previous social media messages, this has never been done before a big event. Instead, one post mentioning Okami was made weeks before State of Play. These are just a few factors that have led to various interpretations regarding the timing of this post.

The list of speculations doesn't end here. Another source of attention comes from information provided by the members of the Sly Cooper community. A long post describing new events that could lead to the franchise's comeback became popular among community members. Sanzaru Games is one of the aspects mentioned. While there seems to be disagreement among fans about Thieves in Time, it marked the latest big game in the series.

After their work on the franchise, Sanzaru concentrated on developing VR games and collaborated closely with Meta. Later on, the company developed Asgard's Wrath, which was well received by both gamers and critics. Recently, however, Meta decided to close down Sanzaru Games. This news led to a resurgence of speculation, as it was reported that former staff members had founded another company, Sneaky Devil Studios.

The new company's title immediately drew attention for its particular relevance to the Sly Cooper fanbase.

This is due to the fact that "Sneaky Devil" is a term connected to the ending of Sly 3. From this perspective, it is highly unlikely that such a name could appear by accident. The relevance of that connection, if there even is any, remains to be seen, yet it has definitely joined the discussion regarding the character of Sly Cooper. Other factors added to the hype.

The aforementioned studio has years of experience developing big-name franchises such as Sly Cooper, Sonic the Hedgehog, Spyro, and Asgard's Wrath. Due to the above connection, fans began to speculate about the possibility of the newly formed studio collaborating to bring Sly Cooper back under Sony's control. Even more discussion was sparked when information began to emerge suggesting Sony was considering reinvigorating some legacy franchises.

It was stated that the franchise in question included such names as Resistance, Ape Escape, MotorStorm, The Legend of Dragoon, Infamous, and Sly Cooper. No single piece of information can prove or disprove anything. Yet taken together, it forms an interesting picture for which people are waiting for developments. There are very tangible reasons to remain cautiously optimistic. Even if Sony has already greenlit this project, there could still be problems with the development schedule.

After all, Sanzaru was closed in January, while Sneaky Devil Studios is a very new company. It takes time to form a team, create work processes, and start production on a big game. This is why, at least theoretically, it might already have been too early for such a project to exist. In this case, a possible Sly Cooper reboot associated with the mentioned companies might not even be halfway through development yet.

Even if teaser announcements can come out relatively early, this would be very aggressive by industry standards.

This explains some doubts about the possibility of any appearance at State of Play. Nonetheless, some people feel that Sony would benefit greatly from a revival of franchises like Sly Cooper, regardless of who develops them. The debate transcends mere nostalgia. In fact, there are now more calls than ever for PlayStation to diversify its portfolio, moving away from an almost exclusive focus on high-budget blockbuster titles.

It is certainly true that hundreds-of-millions-of-dollar games are becoming much more common nowadays, yet not all successful franchises need such an investment. Sly Cooper franchises serve a different purpose entirely. Instead of going head-to-head with the most technically impressive games out there, they add variety to the system by offering options that aren't like huge open-world games or spectacular action titles.

In case any inspiration is needed, one may always turn to Nintendo. The fact is that despite the role of technology in gaming, there is no automatic connection between it and success or failures in video game development. It also means that besides interesting gameplay, great characters and unique designs, one cannot overlook the importance of visuals. Of course, next-generation PlayStation games will not disappoint us.

But some feel there should be space for something else in the collection. From this perspective, Sly Cooper is more than just one title; it embodies what makes the PlayStation line what it is. It may still have value despite the title not being among one of the company's best-selling systems. At the moment, however, everything stays in the realm of assumptions. The company has not issued an official statement, and Sony has not confirmed any developments related to the franchise.

Still, with all the above-mentioned facts being taken into consideration, there is no doubt that Sly Cooper is at the center of attention again. Only time will tell whether the above-mentioned factors lead to any major news, but it is clear that interest in the Sly Cooper franchise has not vanished; on the contrary, there is hope for its future revival as the State of Play event draws near.