Ape Escape 4: No More?

It’s been a year since the publication of my “Where is Ape Escape 4?” video, and unsurprisingly there’s been little to no new information regarding the elusive Ape Escape 4.

The Ape Escape (Saru Getchu in Japan) franchise was the golden goose of the Playstation 1, Playstation 2, and Playstation 2 era – Especially in Japan. Being the first franchise to make dedicated use of the PS1 Dualshock controller it built a name for itself through several console generations using charming humour, and intriguing level design. Western countries received significantly fewer titles than Japanese consumers, with many titles being released exclusively in that region – Despite the franchise being relatively popular in all regions.

Ape Escape 3 was the last mainline title released worldwide, with a few spinoffs being released on PSP and PS2. Since 2005 there have always been rumours of the elusive fourth entry to the series, spanning the entire PS3 lifecycle – The one exception being a Playstation Move title, with a large focus on motion controls. It’s not what fans wanted, and it received generally below average reviews.

Since covering the topic last year, there’s been one development which could indicate a possible return of the franchise. In early April 2019, the Japanese website for Ape Escape was updated with a slightly more modern look – revealing no new information, unfortunately. The 20th anniversary for the franchise just passed in May, additionally Sony is not attending E3 this year, so it doesn’t look promising for our beloved Simian series.

The optimists among the community may hope for a Playstation “State of Play” to be broadcast around E3, possibly revealing a new title. While possible, I wouldn’t put all my bananas in one basket. Fingers crossed.