With Sony’s acquisition of Insomniac Games, some have wondered about the future of Microsoft-published title Sunset Overdrive. Well, it seems that there’s some bad news for fans of the cult classic game: It looks like a Sunset Overdrive sequel is not a priority for Insomniac.
The news from from an interview by The Hollywood Reporter with Sony Interactive Entertainment Chairman Shawn Layden. In the interview, Layden spoke about Sony’s decision to finally purchase Insomniac. As part of this, he touched on Sunset Overdrive while going over the games he expects Insomniac to prioritize now that it’s a Sony studio.
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“That was a great experience for Insomniac and they learned a lot through that, as well”, stated Layden about Sunset Overdrive. “As far as the IP itself, we really haven’t turned over the files on that one to see what that actually means, to be honest. We like what they’ve been doing in the Spider-Man franchise and things like Ratchet & Clank are certainly vital series in the present and future. That’s what we’re concentrating on.”
While fans may be disappointed at the news, it wasn’t exactly unexpected. Aside from not being a big seller, it’s believed that Sunset Overdrive‘s publishing rights are still with Microsoft. It’s likely that all parties involved would have to settle that issue before anything can be done with the IP.
That said, Layden’s statement does bode well for fans of both last year’s Spider-Man game as well as Ratchet and Clank. A sequel to the former seems to already be a given thanks to its strong sales and the number of sequel hooks spread throughout the game. Meanwhile, prior to Spider-Man, Insomniac’s most successful game ever was the 2016 Ratchet and Clank reboot. With this in mind, it makes sense for the studio to focus on its top-selling properties on PlayStation.Once work on new games in these franchises is complete and the publishing rights have been resolved, maybe Insomniac will eventually think of going back to Sunset Overdrive. Until then, fans will just have to wait.
