PlayStation quietly revives series we thought was lost forever

A beloved PlayStation series rival has taken us by surprise like a pesky thief lurking in the shadows.

Before it worked on the Infamous series and Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch Productions had created an N64 title called Rocket: Robot on Wheels before moving on to the topic of today’s discussion, the Sly series.

Check out The Sly Collection trailer below!

The first game in this series was Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus or simply Sly Raccoon in Europe for the PlayStation 2 in 2002/03. Sly Raccoon would then get two more sequels in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Not including the Sly Collection, the last mainline entry in the series was on the PlayStation 3 in 2013 with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Sadly, that would be the last we’d seen of the pesky raccoon.

So it would be safe to assume that this series is well and truly dead, right? Well, not exactly. The original Sly Raccoon became available as a PS2 backwards-compatible game earlier this year for those who subscribe to PlayStation Plus Premium.

Now, as part of the PlayStation 30th anniversary celebrations, Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves are coming to PS Plus Premium soon.

PlayStation Plus joins the PlayStation 30th anniversary celebrations with:

👀 First look at Dec’s Classic Games
🪐 Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2 Game Trial
🤼 Free Online Multiplayer Weekend

…and more. pic.twitter.com/9fOHTpkr4X

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) November 27, 2024

The original three Sly games were previously available to stream with PS Plus but the difference with these new backwards-compatible versions is that you’re able to download them directly on your PS5 and PS4.

“You can all thank me. The other day I was out on a cliff on a dark rainy night screaming, “SONY, ADD SLY 2 & SLY 3 TO CLASSICS AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!” said Redditor SaltySwan. So for that, we thank you.

It’s unlikely that we’ll get a new Sly game anytime soon but hopefully, these re-released classics should keep us busy for a while. But as they say, never say never.