Insomniac Games has a pretty bright future ahead of it as it works hard on Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Marvel's Wolverine, but in its quest to expand its own corner of the Marvel universe, it has seemingly left Ratchet & Clank in the dust. The Ratchet & Clank series is a staple of PlayStation, and it helped make Insomniac the developer that it is today. The series recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and there was no news about a follow-up to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, or even an announcement about substantial DLC content. This has made it seem like the series is not in the cards in the immediate future, but that should change.
Ratchet & Clank is one of Insomniac Games' flagship franchises, but the developer has its hands full for a little while. While that may prevent the studio from making a new entry in the franchise, it should not mean that the series is put on hiatus. The PS4 went by with only one Ratchet & Clank game, and right now it feels like the PS5 may follow suit. However, that could all change if another PlayStation Studios developer takes the reins for a title or two.
Other Developers Have Already Played in the Ratchet and Clank Sandbox
While Insomniac Games is the main powerhouse behind the Ratchet & Clank series, it is not the only studio that has played around in that sandbox. Back during the PS2 and PSP era, there were a couple of Ratchet & Clank spin-offs released from the now defunct High Impact Games. The studio created Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank which were both met with decent reviews. Insomniac Games has headed up the development of the rest of the Ratchet & Clank series, but it does not need to.
PlayStation Studios is composed of many studios, and one of them is bound to be able to pick up the slack by developing a new spin-off in the Ratchet & Clank series. Studios like Media Molecule, Team Asobi, and Pixelopus could be tapped to make a new spin-off, as some of them have experience with platformers and action games already. Sony could also have Bluepoint Games develop a remaster or remake of an older Ratchet & Clank game to fill the void. The precedent for non-Insomniac led Ratchet & Clank titles has already been set, and now is the time to continue that.
Ratchet and Clank Deserves to Shine on PS5
There was a time when Ratchet & Clank dominated PlayStation consoles. The PS2 saw the release of four different Ratchet & Clank titles, while the PS3 also had four mainline titles. The PSP also saw two spin-off titles and the PS3 saw an additional two spin-offs. Racthet & Clank fans were not short on content in those years, but the PS4 era was an entirely different story. The PS4 only saw one title released, and it was a remake of the original game which served as a tie-in to the animated film. The PS5 has also only seen one title with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and there is no news about a second PS5 entry.
A series that once dominated the PlayStation has now dwindled significantly, but that should not be the case. The world of Ratchet & Clank is a staple of PlayStation, and it deserves to shine like it used to. Sony needs to levy its plethora of studios to deliver even more adventures following the Lombax and his robot friend. While the games may not reach the same heights as Insomniac Games' titles do, the spin-offs will allow Ratchet & Clank to live-on as Insomniac builds its new Marvel universe.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is available now on PS5.