PlayStation fans haven’t had a new Sly Cooper game since 2013’s Thieves in Time, but a new leak may have revealed that Sly Cooper 5 is in the works. Online retailers Instant Gaming and Press Start both have listings for the unannounced Sly Cooper 5, and both peg the game for a 2020 release date on the PlayStation 4.
The retailers also have box art for Sly Cooper 5, showing a more-detailed version of the character that’s reminiscent of how he appeared in the unfinished Sly Cooper movie adaptation. Other than that, there’s not a lot of information to glean from the listings. It’s also unclear if these Sly Cooper 5 listings are even accurate, so fans should keep their expectations in check until an official announcement comes from Sony.
It should be noted that this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of a potential Sly Cooper 5 game. A largely debunked Game Awards 2019 leak claimed that Sly Cooper 5 would be revealed at the show, but no such announcement was made. Perhaps Sony planned on revealing Sly Cooper 5 at the event, only to change its mind at the last minute. Of course, it’s also possible (and much more likely) that Sly Cooper 5 popping up on these websites and having been mentioned in the Game Awards “leak” is just a coincidence.
If Sly Cooper 5 is in development, it remains to be seen who is working on the game. We can likely rule out that the Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time dev Sanzaru Games is working on the project. After all, it was just last month that the Thieves in Time lead designer expressed an interest in making a new Sly Cooper game, indicating that they likely were unaware of Sly Cooper 5, assuming the game even exists.
The original Sly Cooper studio, Sucker Punch Productions, is also not a likely candidate for the Sly Cooper 5 development team. Sucker Punch is busy finishing work on its big upcoming PS4 exclusive Ghost of Tsushima, so it’s hard to see how it would have time to do that and release Sly Cooper 5 in the same year.
PlayStation has many first-party studios and development partners, so there could be any number of studios involved in the development of Sly Cooper 5. But again, we must stress that Sly Cooper 5 hasn’t actually been announced and it’s possible that these listings have been posted by mistake. For the sake of Sly Cooper fans eager for a new installment in the beloved platforming series, hopefully some clarification comes sooner rather than later.
Sly Cooper 5 is rumored to be in development for PS4.
