With a new generation also comes the prospect of old franchises returning from the grave. Over PlayStation's lifespan, which started in 1994 in Japan before the console made its way to the states the following year, many series have come and go.
Earlier PlayStation consoles have already seen franchise revivals, like 2018's God of War, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and the Medieval remake, so it only makes sense for more dormant IPs to come around in the near future. Should Sony or any other publisher be thinking about bringing back an old series, here are ten they should certainly consider updating.
10 Syphon Filter
The first trilogy of Syphon Filter games came out on the original PlayStation, and the PS2 saw the cooperative shooter, The Omega Strain. The series spent its last days on the PSP with two warmly received titles, Dark Mirror and Logan's Shadow. Given the thirteen year break, most feel it is time to give the series another go. On the other hand, some might not be crazy for a series about deadly and contagious virus.
9 Jak And Daxter
After giving the original PlayStation a platforming mascot of their own with Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog entered the PS2 generation with Jak and Daxter. They then abandoned this character on the PS2 for the more mature Uncharted and The Last of Us. Fans desperately want to see the duo come back. Even if Naughty Dog is not involved, in trustworthy hands a Jak and Daxter revival would please a lot of gamers.
8 Sly Cooper
Sucker Punch Productions has made several successful franchises for Sony consoles. They rose to prominence for PlayStation owners with the stealth-action platformer, Sly Cooper. Given the company's recent success with Ghost of Tsushima, one would not expect the studio to bring back the thieving raccoon, but fans would appreciate his return in any form. Sanzaru Games made the most recent entry from 2013, but this studio was recently acquired by Facebook.
7 Killzone
Guerrilla games ushered in the PlayStation 4 with Killzone: Shadowfall, which also ended up being the last game in the series. The studio moved on to the massively successful Horizon Zero Dawn, whose sequel is currently in development.
The series has always had a unique feel, which makes a revival appropriate at any time. We don't know who could bring it back, but the series was always a technical showcase, making it a good series for a console's early life.
6 Socom
Partly due to the rising competition from other online multiplayer console games, Socom's popularity waned on the PS3, causing the fourth numbered entry in 2011 to be the last of the series. However, with games like Rainbow Six: Siege showing tactical squad-based shooters have a solid place in multiplayer gaming landscape, perhaps Socom could stand a better chance today. A single-player campaign should also be included, but we'd sacrifice it if it meant an especially stellar multiplayer suite.
5 Pain
Pain lets players slingshot an avatar into an environment and move them around as they destroy various parts of the world. It is one of the few games where players want the character to receive as much damage as possible, and it certainly lives up to the name. The physics were particularly impressive, which is what would make a PS5 version so intriguing. With more processing power, the amount of destruction the PS5 could render would be incredible.
4 Infamous
Early in the PlayStation 4's life Infamous: Second Son was an impressive visual spectacle, particularly for the particle effects. Afterwards, the developer spent the following years crafting the massively successful Ghost of Tsushima. Superhero games are more popular than ever, however, especially given the success of Marvel's Spider-Man, so one can see the franchise returning in the near future on the PlayStation 5. Sucker Punch probably would not make it, since they are most likely going to follow up Ghost of Tsushima.
3 The Getaway
After two The Getaway entries on the PlayStation 2, SIE London Studio was hard at work on a third entry for the PS3 before it was canceled and the developer focused more on the Singstar series. Recently, they made the critically acclaimed PSVR first-person shooter, Blood and Truth. Given the company's success in the VR space, maybe a third game in the series could be on the format. As long as it kept the London crime drama style resembling a Guy Ritchie movie, fans would be happy.
2 Motorstorm
Motorstorm looked mighty pretty on the PlayStation 3. The racing felt good, but seeing cars come apart and bikers fly off their ride during crashes was extremely pleasurable, a feeling on par with the Burnout franchise's destruction.
On the PlayStation 5, players could relive a similar feeling of awe all over again as the extra processing power makes the cars and crashes look better than ever. Sony already has the racing sim audience with Gran Turismo, now they need to please those who are into a more arcade style racer.
1 Resistance: Fall Of Man
Insomniac is most likely going to be spending the foreseeable future making Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank games, but it would be nice to see them or another developer tackle the Resistance franchise again. Resistance: Fall of Man launched alongside the PS3 and the trilogy wrapped up on the same console, skipping the PS4 in its entirety. A new game should take its cues from the third entry, including a split-screen cooperative campaign.