Insomniac Games not making Resistance 4

If there's one thing that Insomniac Games knows, it's zany and enjoyable weaponry - both the Ratchet and Clank series as well as the sci-fi FPS Resistance franchise have been set-above their contemporaries because of the developer's dedication to new and exciting ways of killing things.

With Resistance 3 less than two weeks away, players are already anxious to find-out where the Sony exclusive series goes next. We know that a handheld installment, Resistance: Burning Skies for the PS Vita, is en route but will Insomniac, who recently expressed interest in a multi-platform future, develop the inevitable Resistance 4?

If an interview with Gaming Union is to be believed, Insomniac creative director, Marcus Smith, points out that the developer is not currently slated to work on Resistance 4 - and that there's a real possibility the property could be turned-over to a new developer, similar to the Bungie/343 Industries/Halo hand-off:

"We've done Resistance 3 and we're really into it and proud of it, but we're not currently slated to do a Resistance 4. So it would be hard to say it's any kind of lynchpin within Insomniac. I think we're thriving and branching out in a lot of different directions."

Despite a lengthy history, and good relationship, with Sony, Smith asserts a reason for Insomniac to go multi-platform that is no doubt similar to Bungie's thought-process - to develop titles that every gamer can play, regardless of the systems that they own:

We're kind of going in a lot of different directions. Ted Price, Alex and Brian Hastings, the owners, have been doing this for a long time - something like 15 years of doing Sony exclusive games - and they're just interested in doing other things.

We recently talked with Smith about the possibility of a new Insomniac-helmed Spyro title - and the creative director dimissed the idea entirely - meaning Activision's choice to resurrect Spyro through XPEC Entertainment, for Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, was a sound decision. Talking about Resistance 4, Smith floated a similar idea - that another developer could successfully take-over the series:

Nihilistic is already doing a [Resistance] Vita game, which is going to be awesome. We really respect those guys as game developers. Sony Bend did Resistance Retribution on PSP. We've got a lot of different places for the universe to go, so I could certainly see the series going to another developer. I'm sure Sony would want to find a high caliber developer to do a good offering. I don't think they'd hand the franchise over to somebody who is going to screw it up.

Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta Impressions 2

No doubt, Resistance die-hards will be nervous about the prospect of Sony handing the franchise over to a new developer but new blood and ideas can actually be a positive thing in an industry that, at times, relies heavily on regurgitating the same ideas over and over. That said, there's no guarantee that Insomniac won't be making Resistance 4 - as Sony could just be waiting to see what kind of reaction Resistance 3 gets before encouraging Insomniac to start pre-production on another sequel.

There's also the possibility that, given the tie-ins with Resistance: Burning Skies that are featured in Resistance 3, Insomniac is already working on another installment - and Smith is throwing out misdirection, so that the studio can surprise us all down the road.

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Resistance 3 launches September 6th, 2011 for the PS3.

Source: Gaming Union