PlayStation has played host to a plethora of truly ingenious titles and, as a result, curated quite the collection of beloved mascots. From Kratos and Nathan Drake to Spyro and Sackboy, PlayStation’s selection of iconic characters may not be quite as marketable as Mario or Link, but they’re inarguably still some of the most recognizable faces in gaming and legends in their own right. However, as much as we’ve all come to know and love them, so many of PlayStation’s best and brightest have been abandoned to time, relegated to neglected IPs that seemingly will never see the light of day.
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There are so many PlayStation franchises in need of a reboot, so many that are trapped on the PlayStation 2 or even its predecessor. It is a shame, especially as a lot of those games have the potential to truly shine today. That is undeniably the case with Jak, the incredibly cool series from Last of Us creator Naughty Dog that jumped from cutesy platformer to Mad Max simulator. If there were ever a PlayStation series that deserved to come back, it is Jak, and there might just be a way it could happen.
PlayStation Needs To Resurrect Jak
Jak, for the uninitiated, wasn’t just any old PlayStation IP. It was really, truly, special. The first game in the series was a vibrant, colorful, quirky platformer that was swiftly followed by a grungy, open-world fantasy shooter, the likes of which we’ve never really seen since. The titular character and his plucky, wisecracking sidekick, Daxter, became household names for a short while, even getting their own racing spin-off, before fading into obscurity as Naughty Dog became the poster child for Sony’s push into cinematic single-player experiences. Only Ratchet and Clank has seemingly survived since that era, with Jak’s final foray releasing on the PSP in 2009.
It is a genuine shame, not simply because Jak 2 was one of the greatest PS2 games ever made, but because there was plenty of potential for both its game design and setting. It’s not too often you get an elf and his furry sidekick gunning down bad guys with shotguns and assault rifles before blasting off in Mad Max-inspired cars across a vast desert open-world. Jak 3 delivered that, as did its predecessor, alongside hoverboards and lush landscapes, GTA-style car hjacking and so much more. Jak ostensibly became fantasy Grand Theft Auto while still adhering to its platforming routes with some of the most satisfying movement mechanics in a first-party PlayStation title.
Sure, I’m a little biased as it was one of my favorite games growing up, but it has undeniably held up over the years, both visually and mechanically, which is something I can’t say for many of my childhood favorites. There’s so much room to grow Jak and Daxter into a whole new franchise, one that could easily rival Ratchet and Clank, but it doesn’t appear like there’s any interest in it. Sony is wasting Jak by simply sitting on it, much like it is with Sly Cooper and a number of its other iconic series from the early 2000s. Still, there’s hope that we could see it return, eventually.
Jak Could Make A Return In The Future
There have been numerous requests for a Jak reboot or remake in the past, and they rarely seem to die down. Recently, gameplay of a Jak and Daxter remake surfaced online, produced by a team hoping to sell the idea to Sony. Sadly, it was passed on, but it gave us a pretty good glimpse at what a next-gen version of the classic title would look like, and, frankly, it is perfect. Crucially, this isn’t the first time that something like this has happened. Fans have been making their own interpretations for years, illustrating a clear demand for the series to make its return and the impact it continues to have nearly two decades later.
Back in 2021, Naughty Dog’s then co-president, Evan Wells, was asked in an interview for the AIAS’s Game Maker’s Notebook series (as transcribed by VGC) whether there was any chance of seeing Jak and Daxter make a return in the future. While he explained that no project was in development, he confirmed that there is “still a lot of love for Jak & Daxter in the studio” and that they wished they were making a Jak game after seeing what Insomniac was achieving with Ratchet and Clank.
Frankly, I’ll take anything at this point, and it is somewhat reassuring to know that Jak is as much on Naughty Dog’s mind as it is mine. Of course, since 2021, the studio has focused primarily on remastering The Last of Us, as well as working on its upcoming Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet alongside other undisclosed projects. There’s a very good chance that even if we were to get a Jak remake or sequel from Naughty Dog specifically, it wouldn’t be for several more years, potentially even a decade. It makes more sense, then, for another studio to take the reins and propel Jak to new heights.
PlayStation Needs Jak Now More Than Ever
PlayStation is entering a somewhat unsustainable era it desperately needs to get out of. Its games are costing hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, and its studios are taking years at a time to create a single title. Indeed, many titles don’t even get to see a return on investment, as Sony pulls the plug before it has a chance to release. PlayStation studios are being shut down at an alarming rate, including beloved developers like Bluepoint. Something needs to change, and, legitimately, Jak could be a solution.
While Jak alone cannot save PlayStation, games like it may be the answer. It is clear that there is a demand for modern variants of PlayStation’s classic games. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was reportedly profitable, according to the Insomniac leak, with it selling 2.7 million copies by February 2022 (less than a year after launch). Crucially, it was able to achieve that success because it was substantially cheaper to produce than the majority of Sony’s first-party output.
For context, Rift Apart had a budget of $81 million, whereas Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, developed by the same studio, reportedly cost $315 million to make. Cheaper games utilizing PlayStation’s recognizable brands that don’t all feel like they’re cut from the same cinematic, linear, narrative-focused cloth would likely help boost PlayStation’s profits and keep many of its smaller teams in business. Sony has acquired so many developers that it’s hard to believe it doesn’t have a studio capable of producing a small-scale Jak sequel or reboot to gauge interest.
It is possible this could happen, as PlayStation is already testing the waters with the Sons of Sparta God of War spin-off. It was produced for a significantly smaller budget by a different developer and sold for a lower price, yet managed to hit the tops of sales charts at the time of release and continues to be somewhat popular thanks to its numerous updates. I just hope that PlayStation continues to change the way it makes games, not by completely removing its popular blockbuster titles like the aforementioned Marvel’s Spider-Man, but by supplementing them with smaller, cheaper titles, the way PlayStation used to make them. Jak could be at the forefront of that change, a recognizable IP that many have been clamouring to return, and something Naughty Dog has expressed interest in seeing come back. I sincerely hope that’s the case, as not only do we as fans need it, but it seems like PlayStation could do with a little help from everyone’s favorite shotgun-wielding elf.
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Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast -
Image courtesy of Daybreak Game Company -
Screenshots from Samurai Showdown, Mortal Kombat II, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.
