There’s a curious quirk to Sony’s acquisition of Marvel’s Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games: it now owns the Sunset Overdrive intellectual property. Well, we obviously don’t have the legal paperwork in front of us, but that appears to be the case after the Burbank-based developer infamously retained ownership of the oft-discussed Xbox One exclusive.
As we understand it, Microsoft has publishing rights for the original open world outing, but it’s the developer who possesses the property outright. And seeing as the Japanese giant just made the Ratchet & Clank maker a subsidiary, it stands to reason that it now also owns the Sunset Overdrive IP, which is fascinating.
Of course, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden tried to dodge the question. “As far as the IP itself, we really haven’t turned over the files on that one to see what that actually means,” he said. “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.”
So the chances of a Sunset Overdrive sequel are low, then? Considering that Insomniac Games has worked on much more successful projects with PlayStation, it’s hardly a surprise. We do wonder whether there’s any chance the original Xbox One exclusive could be ported to the PS4, though; there are probably far too many legal issues to overcome, but you never know, do you?
[source hollywoodreporter.com]
Comments 29
In this case given the Xbox motto of "Put it on everything with a screen attached" it could happen.
Just depends if Sony wants the words Xbox around.
I wonder if the publishing rights have a time period, if so i could see the first one being ported to ps4 or ps5 to gauge playstation gamers reaction to see if it's worth making a sequal
I love this game!
Microsoft need to just give up publishing rights and walk away, they will never be able to do anything with this franchise.
I would think that IF SO comes to Playstation, that may only be for PS5 with Xbox having legal documentation for its exclusivity for the XB1 generation.
Sony were approached first when Insomniac pitched the idea of Sunset Overdrive but were not interested. However MS were and as such got the exclusivity and no doubt, for the generation. Its obvious its not a timed exclusive as it may of come to PS and/or switch too.
As Insomniac own the IP, they could possibly do a remastered all in one version (it had some DLC) either to sell on its own or maybe in a bundle with SO2 so that Sony gamers can play both. I think Mass Effect came with ME2 when that franchise came to PS3.
@malbhet They have already given it as part of Games with Gold and I believe its been on Game Pass too. Its been on sale many times so I would think that most, if not all Xbox owners that would want to play it, already have it and played it!
I hope they take another crack at Fuse/Overstrike. It looked fantastic....until EA got involved.
@Frigate I thought the same. I think he just doesn't want to say.
@Frigate @get2sammyb
I’m pretty sure all IP would have been covered during the Due Diligence phase of the M&A.
@BAMozzy
It wasn’t a lack of interest from Sony. It was Sony requiring ownership of the IP. Insomniac didn’t want to give up the IP, so they shopped it to Microsoft.
https://gamerant.com/insomniac-games-why-sunset-overdrive-xbox-one-exclusive/amp/
@malbhet There's nothing stopping Sony from offering the buy the rights but I can't see Microsoft giving them up.
Microsoft prob will sell it... for a fee. Prob a couple hundred million dollars...
I can see a sequel happening on PS4, but I wouldn't expect the original to get a port if have Microsoft a tight enough grip on it.
I wouldn't mind either or both, since the original is one of the unfortunately few titles for Xbox I was interested in. At this rate, I'd rather Sony buy the Killer Instinct dev so I can finally play that, instead of buying a separate system.
Microsoft keeps they they want Xbox games playable anywhere.
I beat SSO and all the DLC on Xbox. To be honest I’d much rather have them continue that than make more Ratchet games
the first sunset overdrive will definitely come to ps4.and remedy will make Alan wake remaster exclusively for Sony.word up son
Well it'll put old Phil's words to the test when he said "I don't want to take anything away from PlayStation"
I think it'll be worth Sony's while to port it to PS4 or PS5, it can gauge interest plus I doubt it'll cost all that much to port it.
Just go for a new more mature IP
Microsoft owns the publishing rights to the first game, but what about a potential remaster? They could pull a Ninja Gaiden Black and add some new content in between that can technically make it a "new game".
I hope they just focus on creating something new, SSO just seems dull in spite of all the bright colours.
I prefer ratchet & clank and spidey compared to sunset.
Keep it. No need for mediocre sloppy seconds when Insomniac has far bigger fish in Spider-man, R&C, Resistance, and potential VR games. I'll take a new IP over Sunset port begging.
@malbhet i find it funny that Insomniac tested the waters with Microsoft and not only came right back to Sony but actually signed with them. Must not have enjoyed their time with Phil and Co.
With all that US military money being thrown around i wonder if Microsoft tried to acquire Insomniac? Or perhaps they prefer buying small studios in financial turmoil so they can nickel n dime them? Compulsion, Ninja Theory, inXile ect.
@Knuckles-Fajita well it wouldn't say Xbox it would say Microsoft
@BAMozzy - Mass Effect didn't appear on PS3 until Nov 2012, when the ME collection was released. ME2 came out a year after it did on PC/xbox360, and ME3 came out the same time on everything. I assume EA only bothered to port the original ME, so they could release the collection.
i expect them to forget about it and move on, to be honest. it's already a 5-year old game, and i can't see how there's much of a PR win from bringing it to PS5.
Sunset is the only exclusive left on the Xbox One worth of picking the console up at some point (others were Ori and Cuphead, but yeah, that's no longer the case). So I really hope we can see Sunset making the move to PS4 or PS5 at some point
all they have to do is buy the publishing rights off Microsoft then there is no problem releasing it on PS4
but the question is, would it be worth it?
Legal issues? Give me a break! Insomniac owns the "Sunset Overdrive" IP. Sony now owns Insomniac. You see where I'm going with this... They could port the game to PS4 today if they wanted! I hope they do with some new missions given that it's 5 years old already. Then a future sequel would be PS5 exclusive.
@Flopsy at least it's better than resistance series
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