After eight years of radio silence, the Ape Escape website has sprung to life. The last time the Japanese website was active was in 2011, around the time of the PlayStation Move Ape Escape title. The new website doesn’t reveal a whole lot beyond a more modern looking front page and updated copy.
The changes were spotted by Twitter user “mu_mu_732”. The update tidies up the Ape Escape website and adds three clickable options: “About,” “Character,” and “Discography.” The About page refers to the original release of Ape Escape in 1999 and highlights the series popularity. The site then elaborates on how the game’s protagonist “Piposalu” went on to feature in a manga, animations, movies, apps, and merchandise. The “Character” page delves deeper in Piposalu’s adventures, such as how the ape tackled “Specter” to prevent their invasion of humanity and how the “playful” character doesn’t give up. The “Discography” link takes you to another page chronicling all the Ape Escape releases across the last 20 years.
No word yet on if the update means anything new is coming for the Ape Escape franchise. However, it is worth noting that 2019 is the 20th anniversary of the first Ape Escape’s release. ResetEra users expressed excitement over the prospect, commenting “Please happen!” “Ape Escape VR please,” and “Some real monkey business, finally.” The consensus in the thread seemed to point towards a potential mobile version of Ape Escape being released.
For fans eager to get a nostalgia hit following this news, Ape Escape 2 was added to PlayStation Now in May 2018 as part of a line-up of classic PlayStation 2 titles. If you are just a fan of gameplay that lets you ape about, or want a more modern title, Devolver Digital recently released its new top-down title Ape Out. The game lets you control a different ape trying to escape, violently taking down security guards to a thumping jazz beat.
