SOCOM just made an unexpected return on PlayStation in 2024

Back in the day when Call of Duty and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon were new to the world, another military shooter was trying to make its mark, and it was the PlayStation-exclusive, SOCOM U.S Navy Seals.

The first game in this series was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. For its time, this game was ahead of the likes of Call of Duty and Ghost Recon in terms of multiplayer, at least on consoles. It featured online co-op and was one of the earliest adopters of online multiplayer for consoles. When being played offline, it featured speech recognition commands to AI teammates.

Check out the SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals trailer below!

SOCOM would benefit from a series of sequels arriving on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP. The last game in the series was SOCOM 4 U.S. Navy Seals for the PS3 in 2011. Sadly, the online servers shut down for good for all SOCOM titles in August 2012.

Yet in a dramatic and unexpected comeback, the original game in the series is now playable online. “The SOCOM series is playable online in 2024,” exclaimed Redditor GrapeLeafs22. This has been made possible thanks to a fan-created server and PS2 emulation. Perhaps similar to what we’ve seen with Resident Evil: Outbreak #2 now playable online using PS2 emulation. A clip was shared via the TikTok channel, SocomCentral.

“These games were so much fun. I’d love to run some Convoy or Demolition again with my old crew. And the dancing…what a brutal taunt before every game had emotes,” said a reminiscing ItsFoolishPride. “Great game…my first console online game too, brilliant times!” said ScottB109.

It’s now been well over a decade since the last release in the SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals graced us with its presence, and with Microsoft owning Call of Duty publisher Activision, perhaps the likes of this military shooter as well as Killzone is worth a Sony revival?