Lastreleased in 2016, it’s been a while since we’ve seen aRatchet & Clankgame. Delayed to coincide with the tie-in film of the same name, the last installment in the series was a re-imagining of the first game from back in 2002. In contrast tothe film, the game was reviewed favorably, 14 years on from the original. The animated film, which Insomniac Games assisted with, featured a famous cast of voice talent in the form of John Goodman, Bella Thorn, Rosario Dawson and Sylvester Stallone.
After a few years of stagnation with the franchise, something juicy has just reared its head. A popular rumour that is gaining traction with fans suggests that a new game in the series could be coming to the PS5 just in time for launch. Developer Insomniac Games, the studio behind the runaway hitMarvel’s Spider-Man, wasrecently acquiredby Sony. Years of close collaboration resulted in the inevitable, and much more official, bond. Returning to the world of lombaxes and robots, a Sony flagship, could be on the cards.
Podcaster and former video game reporter Colin Moriarty shared the rumour on his podcast,Sacred Symbols, recently. As transcribed byCBR,Moriarty said the following:
“We’re going to get aRatchet & Clankin-between [Marvel’s Spider-Manand its sequel] on PlayStation 5. I feel like that’s going to be a launch game, the game that’s long been in development at Insomniac.”
If this is true, it would mean that Insomniac Games has multiple development teams, making the studio able to bring two titles to release concurrently with aMarvel’s Spider-Mansequel andRatchet & Clankbeing equal focuses.
The rebootedRatchet & Clankalmost seemed to be setting up a whole new saga for the series, but since then it has been relatively radio silent. It is arguably Insomniac’s most recognizable franchise, with a storied history and gaming pedigree. It certainly deserves a follow-up sooner rather than later. Across console and mobile releases, the series has 16 titles in total including spin-offs and collections.
Sony itself hasn’t announced any such official intentions to do this and is playing its cards close to its chest. We could learn more when thePS5 launch eventhappens. Until then, there isn’t actually much of anything backing up this claim. Other thanGodfall, no other specific games have been confirmed to be coming to Sony’s next-gen console (yet).
We’ll have to wait until Sony release more information on the PS5 to see if this rumour holds any weight. We can at least say, with some certainty, that the PS5 reveal event rumoured for February 5 is not happening. Perhaps we’ll hear more later this month.
