10 Beloved PlayStation Franchises We May NEVER See Again

“Jak & Daxter” series (2001-09)

Ever since the series came to a close with “Jak 3” and “The Lost Frontier”, folks have been clamoring for a fourth “Jak & Daxter” game. Unbeknownst to most people, Naughty Dog has tried a handful of times to give us that fourth core game. There’s just one problem: every attempt has resulted in bigger, arguably better success than the games from their earlier years. The first attempt at “Jak 4” resulted in “Uncharted”, which saw 3 sequels, a spin-off on PlayStation Vita, and a feature film. The second attempt led to “The Last of Us”, which sold absurd amounts of copies more than Naughty Dog had ever seen and even spawned an acclaimed TV series on HBO. As for the third attempt, nothing came out of it but some decent concept art. However, said art was not capturing the look and spirit of the original games according to internal staff. Naughty Dog staff have expressed interest in bringing “Jak & Daxter” back, but with most of the original teams no longer being at the studio and “Uncharted” and “The Last of Us” seeing continuous success, is there much room for the duo?

“PaRappa the Rapper” series (1996-2002)

For as much as we can respect the Hip-Hop Hero, we have to admit that PaRappa has had his time under the sun. It was short-lived, but Sony doesn’t seem to care about him anymore and hasn’t since the PS2 days. “PaRappa the Rapper 2” came out in 2001, the original game was ported to PSP, and then, we got a remaster in 2017 that was really just another port. If “PaRappa 3” was ever a possibility, we would have gotten it by now or at least heard of its cancellation. Unfortunately, Japan Studio is no longer around, and PaRappa’s creator, Masaya Matsuura, could not get his spiritual successor to his original work off the ground. At this point, it’s going to take a high-ranking executive within Sony to get the company behind the idea of bringing PaRappa back, which is easier said than done.

“MotorStorm” series (2006-12)

If you weren’t too crazy about “Gran Turismo” back in the PS3 days, then chances are you were checking out the “MotorStorm” games. Not only was this the alternative for those wanting an arcade racer instead of a racing sim, it was also Sony’s chance to compete in the off-road racing subgenre. While the series went on for five whole games before hitting dormancy just as the PS4 launched, “MotorStorm’s” role has been rendered obsolete with the PlayStation portfolio, and it is because of “Gran Turismo”. Polyphony’s recent titles have added some off-road racing gameplay into their recent “Gran Turismo” games albeit not in a super expansive way. Still, Sony would probably point to GT7 and its sales as the reason why “MotorStorm” is no longer around. Who knows - maybe one of those upcoming live service endeavors will result in a “MotorStorm: Apocalypse 2” or “Pacific Rift 2” just to differentiate itself a bit from Polyphony’s blockbuster racing sim.

“Heavenly Sword” (2007)

“Heavenly Sword” was a truly innovative action game from the early years of the PlayStation 3 with its unique control scheme, stunning visuals, and perfect pacing. The thing that pains us the most is that, well, nobody bought it. Even though a sequel had already been written and planned, Sony pulled the plug on Ninja Theory and moved the project to SCE Studio Cambridge. Ultimately, the sequel was canned in 2008. According to co-director Tameem Antoniades, “Heavenly Sword” sold one and a half million copies, yet failed to break even. In Antoniades’s own words, “that's still not enough as an independent studio to break even…The publisher potentially breaks even at that point, but the developers don't." Sony did briefly resurrect “Heavenly Sword” in 2014 as an animated movie (for some reason), but it ultimately failed as well. Some of us may hold Nariko in high regard; Sony’s numbers will always say differently, though.

“Sly Cooper” series (2002-13)

While Ratchet and Clank continue to get sequels and Jak and Daxter wallow and fade into obscurity, what about the other third of the PS2 era? Well, there was a moment where Sony seemed to want to continue “Sly Cooper” despite the controversial “Thieves in Time”. In January 2014, Rainmaker dropped a teaser trailer for a “Sly Cooper” movie with a release window for 2016. Alas, 2016 came and went with no word about the movie’s fate. Then, in 2017, Sony announced a “Sly Cooper” TV series that would premiere in 2019…and nothing has been said of the project since. And then, random rumors started cropping up in 2022 regarding Sucker Punch working on a brand new game in the series, which the developer quickly shot down. Not only that, they flat out stated, “we have no plans to revisit inFAMOUS or Sly Cooper right now, and no other studio is currently working on projects related to those franchises either.” Sucker Punch is currently working on “Ghost of Yotei”, the long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s “Ghost of Tsushima”. Sucker Punch also stated “we’d never say never to re-opening those doors”, although we aren’t holding our breaths to see our favorite ring-tailed thief again. We may just get PS4 and PS5 ports, and that’ll be it.

“Infamous” series (2009-14)

Before we move on from Sucker Punch, you probably noticed “Infamous” was caught in the rumor with Sly. Fans have been begging for Sony and Sucker Punch to bring the first two “Infamous” games to PS5, if not a new entry. Indeed, the first two games were ahead of their times when it came to mechanics, animation, and physics engines. Alas, not every studio wants to be “the studio known for one game”. And with their pedigree, Sony is going to let Sucker Punch do what the studio believes works best for them. If that means moving on from “Infamous”, then Sucker Punch may not revisit Cole, Delsin, or Fetch ever again. Who knows - maybe PlayStation Production can spice up the superhero movie scene with an adaptation of Cole’s first game. That, or compete as a TV series against “The Boys”.

“Resistance” series (2008-12)

Another underrated PS3 series we’d love to see again is “Resistance”. Of the FPS games many folks deem “the piss filter era”, “Resistance” was one of the more unique titles in terms of visuals and weaponry. This was a series that got progressively darker in tone and how much the cast struggled in their fight against the Chimera. It was a different, yet captivating side of Insomniac we hadn’t seen before. But Insomniac is ultimately the grim reaper of this franchise because of one big brand: Marvel. As revealed in the 2023 Insomniac leak, the studio has its plate full for the next decade working almost exclusively on Marvel licensed games. There is a planned “Ratchet & Clank” game, but that isn’t scheduled for release until 2029. If you love Spider-Man and X-Men, you might love this direction Insomniac is heading. But for those of us wanting a simple PS5 port of the “Resistance” trilogy, it’ll be a miracle for that to happen at this point, especially when the series didn’t really push units.

“Killzone” series (2004-13)

“Killzone” was another unique FPS series Sony had under its belt, and it was the series that would show the potential Guerrilla Games had prior to making “Horizon”. Even Sony got behind the series as it once deemed it “the ‘Halo’ killer”. As we’ve seen in the past decades, “Killzone” never really got off the ground. Hardcore PS3 fans liked it, but in a world where everyone was obsessing over “Call of Duty” more than any other shooter in the late 2000’s, “Killzone” just didn’t stand a chance. Even in 2013 when “Killzone: Shadow Fall” released alongside the PS4, folks didn’t show up to champion the IP. It was a commercial success, yes, but “Horizon Zero Dawn” changed Guerrilla Games’s trajectory. Since 2017, Guerrilla and Sony have stuck with “Horizon” and have been going hard on sequels, spin-offs, and remasters left and right. In 2024, Guerrilla Games even stated themselves that they have moved on from “Killzone” and have no desire to go back. Guess we’re never seeing a “Killzone Collection”, huh?

“LittleBigPlanet” series (2008-20)

This one admittedly hurts to tread. For a time, Sackboy was considered the mascot of PlayStation. He was a character that was malleable to put in so many different games and was often the choice guest character for third-party games like “3D Dot Game Heroes” and “Minecraft”. On top of that, “LittleBigPlanet” was a valuable IP for Sony throughout the PS3 era and during some of the early PS4 years. However, after LBP3, Sony kind of stopped seeking Sackboy-related projects. Sure, we got “Sackboy: A Big Adventure” in 2020 when the PS5 launched. But you know what character people latched onto at the time? Astro Bot. Since “Astro’s Playroom”, all folks can think about is “Astro Bot”, so much so that we finally got a standalone “Astro Bot” game in 2024. The game does hold a Sackboy Bot, but Astro seeing such resounding success, more than any Sackboy ever saw, well, that “Toy Story” meme perfectly encapsulates the whole situation. RIP, Sackboy.

“EverQuest” series (1999-2007)

In the case of “EverQuest”, this is the most glaring and confusing omission in PlayStation’s portfolio. Once upon a time, “EverQuest” was one of the biggest and most popular MMORPGs on the market. And while the first game was only ever released on PC, the IP found a home on PS2 with “Champions of Norrath”, which even saw a sequel in 2007 with “Champions: Return to Arms”. Now, herein lies the confusing part in “EverQuest’s” disappearance - the commercial performance. Though Sony has never given hard numbers on sales, “EverQuest” is still available today on PC and has an active playerbase of more than eighty thousand players. So, why not invest in trying to bring “EverQuest” to console and grow that playerbase? Or why not remake, remaster, or port “Champions of Norrath” for old players to revisit and new players to discover? And considering Sony’s ambition to break into the live service market, you would think “EverQuest” would be a key player in those plans. And yet, Sony seems to have no interest in expanding this IP anymore.

Which of these PlayStation franchises would you love to see return in some way? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!