Over the course of three decades, PlayStation has amassed a sizeable and impressive catalog of first-party properties, and that’s only grown increasingly important to both the brand identity and success of PlayStation as a whole. A byproduct of having the kind of first-party firepower that PlayStation does, however, is that though that lineup is full of a multitude of beloved heavy hitters, it’s also got no shortage of fan-favourite first-party IP that have gone dormant, have remained that way for years, and are likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future, if not longer.
From new instalments in franchises that were once central to PlayStation’s strategy as a first-party powerhouse to follow-ups to one off games that, in spite of having their fair share of fans, just never managed to gain the kind of mainstream, widespread traction that would prove to Sony that a sequel is warranted, here, we’re going to talk about a few hypothetical first-party PlayStation sequels that have a very, very low chance of ever actually being greenlit- if that. Without further ado then, let’s jump right in.
NEW KILLZONE GAME
Back in the PS3 era, Killzone was easily one of Sony’s biggest first-party franchises, perhaps right up there with the likes of Uncharted and God of War. After a stumbling start with its debut outing on the PS2, Killzone established itself as a fan favourite over the subsequent years thanks to the excellent Killzone 2 and 3 (the former in particular). And though the series should only have moved from strength to strength from that point forward, unfortunately enough, its early PS4 instalment, Killzone Shadow Fall, proved to be its last game.
At this point in time, there’s little reason to believe that Killzone is ever going to make any sort of actual comeback- or at any point in the relatively near future, at the very least. It’s been over a decade since the series’ last instalment, and in the time since then, Guerrilla has moved on to bigger and better things in the form of the Horizon franchise. Horizon has, of course, cemented itself as a hugely important (and equally successful) PlayStation property, following which Guerrilla and Sony seem to have quadrupled down on their investment in the franchise- which means a new Killzone game is looking increasingly unlikely to turn into a reality by the day.
RESISTANCE 4
Though not nearly as successful or popular as Killzone in the PlayStation 3 era, fellow PlayStation 3 first-party sci-fi first-person shooter franchise Resistance had its fair share of fans as well. It is, of course, strongly associated with the PS3 for very strong reasons, with its first game having been a launch title for the console and both of its mainline successors also having released for PS3 in the subsequent years- to the extent that we never saw the franchise beyond that.
But really, were the Resistance games successful enough from either a critical or commercial perspective for that to be a surprise? Insomniac Games was able to deliver a solid trilogy of shooters with the studio’s trademark band of gadgets-focused gameplay and weapon variety, but the Resistance series never caught on to the extent that anyone could ever consider a pivotal part of PlayStation’s first-party future, even at the time. With Insomniac having found immeasurable success with its Spider-Man games, and with the studio now seemingly fully focused on Marvel (and Ratchet and Clank, of course), we’d be shocked if we ever saw it returning to Resistance.
NEW INFAMOUS GAME
Like the aforementioned Resistance, inFamous was a franchise that was introduced to the world in the PS3 era, but unlike Insomniac’s alien shooting series, Sucker Punch’s open world superhero series did manage to make it into the PS4 era as well- and with impressive results, too. 2014’s inFamous Second Son obviously didn’t set the world on fire by any means, but it was a worthy follow-up to a beloved franchise, as was its standalone expansion, First Light. But though there’s plenty of demand for inFamous to make a return, it just doesn’t seem very likely.
And why, exactly? Well, for the same reason as a lot of other similar first-party PlayStation franchises that have fallen into dormancy- their developers have moved on to bigger and better things. Yes, the inFamous games were critical and commercial hits, but they obviously did not compare to the level of success that developer Sucker Punch would go on to enjoy with the incredible Ghost of Tsushima in 2020. The samurai epic is what the studio is focused on now (for understandable reasons), so we don’t see an inFamous 3 (or 4, or whatever it would be called) happening anytime soon.
THE ORDER: 1886 SEQUEL
Easily one of the most obvious entries in a feature such as this one, and for so many reasons. Let’s start with why people would even care about a sequel to The Order: 1886. By all accounts, on paper, this was a game that no one should want a sequel for, right? For a game that was as short, linear, and restrained as it was, there shouldn’t be too much demand for a sequel. The Order: 1886, however, made a strong reception on those that played it, and thanks to its strong aesthetic, unique setting, stunning visuals, and more, it was able to win over more than a few fans, even with its many considerable issues.
Those issues, however, were noticed widely by critics and audiences alike, leading to not only lukewarm scores, but also less than stellar sales. It was clear pretty quickly after The Order: 1886 came out that Sony would never go ahead with a sequel for the game, even if there were many who genuinely would have been interested in one. It’s also worth mentioning, of course, that developer Ready at Dawn is now owned by Oculus Studios and now works exclusively on virtual reality games for Meta headsets, which means the chances of a sequel to The Order plummet even lower- not that they were too high to begin with.
DAYS GONE 2
How do we know a sequel to Days Gone is never going to happen? Well, because Sony had the chance to make one, but turned that chance down in favour of newer (and hopefully greener) pastures. Bend Studio’s open world zombie game launched in 2019 to relatively mixed reception (by PlayStation Studios standards, at any rate), which led to Sony deciding that a Days Gone 2 wasn’t worth investing in. Bend Studio is instead now working on a new open world live service IP that will build on Days Gone’s systems
You know what’s a bummer though? That Days Gone really was successful enough to warrant a sequel. According to leaked internal Sony numbers, the game had sold over 7.3 million units as of 2020, which should have been more than enough for Sony to greenlight a sequel. Sure, Days Gone isn’t exactly a critical darling by any stretch of the imagination, but over time, word of mouth and fan reception for the action-adventure game has been strong enough that demand for a sequel has remained surprisingly loud, even after Sony has made it abundantly clear that, for its part, it’s just not interested.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
