Jak & Daxter PS4 PlayStation 4

There will always be demand for some of Sony's older mascots on the PlayStation 4. Just looking at the engagement on our articles, you guys really want a new Crash Bandicoot for the Japanese giant's next-gen machine, but that's locked behind various legal tangles. A fresh Jak & Daxter is probably the closest that you'd ever get, but Naughty Dog has more or less ruled out a follow-up.

Speaking with Game Informer, ex-animator and recently promoted Uncharted 4: A Thief's End writer Josh Scherr has suggested that the firm doesn't really miss its stylised games of old. "We've got an amazing team of people making some really expressive performances with our current stable of realistic characters," he said.

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He added: "I mean, animating the stylised stuff is a lot of fun, but the stories that we're trying to tell right now are a little bit more grounded and a little bit more grown up than they were back in the Jak & Daxter days." The veteran employee continued that the company's "moved into [a] new realm" since launching the Uncharted franchise on the PlayStation 3.

Asked if he thought that this was a result of the studio's staff maturing, he concluded: "I think that that's part of it. I think that it's also dictated by what the market wants, too. You know, that was a lot of what our decision was bounded by and based on when moving from Jak & Daxter to something more like Uncharted. And it's also what we're interested in, too."

Rumour has it that Sony famously asked Naughty Dog to make something a little grittier during the early days of the PS3, as it felt that it needed to compete with the more mature titles appearing on Xbox. It did famously start work on a fourth entry in its platforming property, but this eventually evolved into The Last of Us.

Of course, there's no reason why another studio couldn't be recruited to continue the franchise. The question is: who do you think would do it justice? Sanzaru Games did a pretty great job with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, so it can be done. Let us know who you'd like to take the reins – if anyone – in the comments section below.

[source gameinformer.com, via powerupgaming.co.uk]