At the onset of the PlayStation 5 generation, rumors from inside Sony began to emerge claiming that the company was going to double down on beloved PlayStation franchises for the foreseeable future. This would mean the revival of beloved franchises that could leverage success going forward, such as how Activision revived Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. One such franchise is Sly Cooper, which has had a hectic few months of on/off rumors of an upcoming next entry. After a recent rumor indicated that Sony is planning to announce both new Sly Cooper and InFamous games later this year, it appears the developer of the next Sly game has been leaked.
Rumors of a new Sly Cooper arose in late 2021 when XboxEra host Shpeshal Nick revealed that his sources had claimed that a new entry in the PlayStation 2-era 3D platforming series was in early development. At the same time, Nick revealed that he heard that a new InFamous game, another franchise created by Sucker Punch Productions, was also in early development at PlayStation. He later confirmed that neither title would be developed by Sucker Punch Productions, with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time developer Sanzaru Games also ruled out considering the studio's acquisition by Facebook in 2020.
Earlier this week, credited insider AccountNGT, who just a few months ago leaked QuanticDream's upcoming Star Wars game Star Wars: Eclipse with images taken directly from its then unreleased trailer, corroborated Nick's claims that new Sly Cooper and InFamous games are in development. They also claimed that the game will likely be revealed in the second half of 2022 and that fans should not expect it at today's State of Play focused primarily on titles from Japanese publishers.
Today, XboxEra's Shpeshal Nick revealed that a source of his had given him permission to reveal that PixelOpus, the developer behind PS4's Concrete Genie, will be developing the next entry in the Sly Cooper franchise. He also revealed that, as per a job listing last year that revealed that PixelOpus is developing its next game in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation, the animation studio will also be working on the long-awaited Sly Cooper animated series that was first announced as a film all the way back in 2014.
It's not yet known what form the next Sly Cooper game will take, if it even exists. It's always worth mentioning that none of this information has been announced or commented on by Sony, so it should all be taken with a grain of salt. If the next entry is to tie into an upcoming animated series, it makes sense that Sony might look to reboot the franchise. This would, however, leave Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time's cliffhanger ending forever unresolved.
The next Sly Cooper game is rumored to be in development exclusively for PlayStation 5.