With seminal 2000s platformers likeRatchet and Clank, Spyro,andPsychonautsall getting blockbuster reboots for the modern era, many have questioned whether Naughty Dog’s iconicJak and Daxterseries would follow suit. Rumors and speculation swirl around the game each and every year, however, the studio has officially confirmed that a fourth iteration of the series isn’t in development.
“We’ve had a couple of Twitter campaigns where people have been tweeting us every single day [saying] ‘I want a newJak & Daxter,” claims Naughty Dog President Evan Wells during the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science’s latest episode of the Game Maker’s Notebook (later transcribed by VGC). “I hate to break it to them, [but] we do not have Jak & Daxter here in development right now.”
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It’s unfortunate news for the legions of fans clamoring for a potential new entry in the iconic platformer series, many of whom have clung to the hope thatNaughty Dogmight return to the franchise. Interestingly, Wells did state that the team wishes they were developing a new adventure set in the game’s universe, especially after seeing Insomniac’s recent work onRatchet and Clank. According to the Naughty Dog president, “there’s still a lot of love for Jak & Daxter in the studio,” which is unsurprising considering it was one of the developer’s first major hits.
It’s not hard to see whyRatchet and Clank’srecent success would stir up the studio’s nostalgia forJak and Daxter,with Insomniac bringing its beloved series back with a fresh coat of paint while preserving everything that made it so iconic. Launching alongside an animated tie-in movie, the team delivered a widely-revered remake ofRatchet and Clank’sfirst entryback in 2016, while it’s currently slated to drop a sequel titledRatchet and Clank: Rift Apartlater this year.
The firstJak and Daxterlaunched around the same time as Insomniac’s intergalactic platformer, focusing on the titular two characters embarking on an epic quest to defeat the forces of evil. The first game eventually spawned several sequels, includingJak and Daxter 2, Jak and Daxter 3, Jak X: Combat Racing,Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier,and PSP spin-off,Daxter.
Naughty Dog has admitted that the team considered developing a fourthJak and Daxtergame in the past, revealing it would’ve been a darker and more realistic interpretation of the series. Ultimately, the studio decided to drop the project due to it not being the sequel players would have wanted. Instead, it moved onto developingThe Last of Us,which has arguably been Naughty Dog’s most successful project to date.
