New Ape Escape Reportedly in Development at Sonic Mania Team

A new Ape Escape video game is reportedly in the works, helmed by the team that successfully rebooted a certain blue hedgehog with Sonic Mania . Developer Evening Star also made Penny’s Big Breakaway , which launched to mixed reviews compared to Sonic Mania’s near unanimous praise.

The report comes from journalist Jeff Gerstmann, corroborated by VGC sources. “So yeah, some other folks have said that they also heard that Ape Escape is being made,” Gerstmann said on his podcast .

“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. “Who is making it? That’s a good question.

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“My understanding is that it’s an external studio. People were immediately like, ‘Oh, Team Asobi (Astro Bot) is making it.’ My understanding is that an external team has been working on that. What do they make… Penny’s Big Breakaway. Evening Star. I heard that they were working on it.”

According to the report, Sony is looking at using third-party studios to revive dormant series across its entire portfolio. Last month, rumors were circulating that PlayStation is looking to bring back Killzone , though the obvious choice of developer for that one would likely be first-party original studio Guerrilla Games.

The last game in the Ape Escape series is PlayStation Move Ape Escape, released for PS3 in 2010. The last mainline game was Ape Escape 3, five years earlier, for PS2.

“At the time that I initially heard it, it sounded like it was a game that had been just barely greenlit and just getting underway," Gerstmann continued.

“You know, not necessarily the most corroborated, multiple-source thing, but that is what I heard about an Ape Escape Game. I was asking people questions at DICE this year about this Ape Escape game. So that was February. So there ya go.”

IGN reached out to Sony for comment about its rumored third-party licensing strategy last week, but so far there’s been no response.

Kirk McKeand is a Contributor on IGN News. Find him on Twitter @MckKirk