It’s hard to believe that the PS5 is now in its sixth year of operation following its late launch in 2020: a year that will live in infamy for many reasons. Sony has helped produce several hits likeMarvel’s Spider-Man 2,Astro Bot, andGod of War Ragnarok. While those three examples will assuredly get more entries, these other games probably won’t.
There’s no way to predict a game’s success rate even after launch. For example, a game may review incredibly well but if no one buys it then that could be the end. The same is true if a game sells a lot of copies but reviews poorly. Will the executives across these PS5-supporting first-party and third-party studios greenlight the following game examples to get sequels on the PS5 or beyond?
The Callisto Protocolwas set to bea spiritual successortoDead Spacein 2022 since EA was just sitting on the property. The developer, Striking Distance Studios, was made up of former team members on that project so it all looked promising. Unfortunately for them, EA was working on a Dead Space project, a remake, stealing the thunder fromThe Callisto Protocoland its team. That remake reviewed well whereasThe Callisto Protocoldid not. The launch was met with bugs and just lackluster excitement from reviewers and fans. It had post-launch support but all signs point to this game leaving off on a cliffhanger never to be resolved.
Deathloopwas released in 2021 as a console exclusive to the PS5. That eventually ended when Xbox got the rights to Arkane Studios as it went multi-platform. Either way, it’s agood time loop gamethat starred a bewildered man, Colt, on the run from a murderous woman named Julianna in a roguelike shooter. The game reviewed well and it was a hit among early PS5 games but it probably didn’t draw enough attention to warrant a sequel. Also, with Arkane Studios working on a Blade game now, it’s unknown when they could even start a sequel toDeathloop.
Evil Westwas a spiritual sequel toDarkwatchwhich shared similar vibes.Darkwatch, celebrating twenty years of service in 2025, was a late PS2-era game about a vampire in the Old Westkilling other vampires and monsters.
Evil Westalso took place in the Old West and featured steampunk weaponry and gadgets in the fight against all things that go bump in the night. The reviews were mixed for this one in 2022 and it didn’t sell a whole lot. Still,Evil Westgathered a cult following so at least it has fans even if it doesn’t get a sequel.
It Takes Twowon a ton of awards when it was released in 2021. Hazelight Studios, under EA, was able to make a game that was cost-effective for them which led to good sales and multiple ports. Hazelight Studios is a developer more interested in creating one-off experiences but with one thingtying them all together: co-op.There’s no need narratively to make a sequel toIt Takes Twounless they expanded the co-op to three players involving the daughter too and calledIt Takes Three. That’s not a bad idea, but for now, they are working on the equally inventive platformer/action game,Split Fiction.
Kena: Bridge of Spiritsblended the adventure platforming ofZeldagames and the minion gathering of Pikmin. It was another 2021 console exclusive for the PS5 which later came to Xbox systems too. It was the first big effort from the developer Ember Lab who proved they knew how to makea AAA quality game from within a small studio. It was reviewed well but it wasn’t exactly a global hit in the sales department. Since this was their first big project, it’s unknown how Ember Lab will proceed with their career. Will they go the indie route of producing one-offs or will they create nothing but sequels?
Sackboy was the mascot for the PS3 generation of platformers thanks to theLittleBigPlanetseries. That carried over into the PS4 generation too with the third main entry. The next game was a spinoff and instead of a platformer with level creation tools,Sackboy: A Big Adventurewas just a platformer albeit from a top-down perspective.
It was a good launch game for the PS5 in 2020 that is still fun to play with friends but it’s hard to say if Sony will allow Sumo Digital or Media Molecule to make a new mainline or spinoffLittleBigPlanetgame thanks to theAstro Botseries. Who needs Sackboywhen Astro Botis around?
Straywas both an adorable and sad adventure game in 2022. Players controlled ayoung ginger catthat gets separated from their orphan family of cats at the start. They wind up in a futuristic city, befriend a robot, and together they make their way through puzzles and ruins to help find this lost family. There’s a conclusion at the end, which is why there is no need for a sequel. BlueTwelve Studio, the developer, is better off making an original game following this which did review well but that doesn’t mean it should or would get a sequel.
Star Wars Outlawswas released in 2024 and it was Ubisoft’s first bigStar Warsgame following the last slew of EA-published ones. The reviews were very mixed, slighting glitches and stealth problems as big detractors. To Ubisoft’s credit, they have been patching the game to make it more accessible. Has that helped sell more units? Probably not as Ubisoft has reported things didn’t go as well as they planned for the launch and post-launch of the game. Financially, they seem to be in hot water overall so it’s hard to say if Ubisoft is in a position to make a sequel to anything anytime soon besides what they already have coming out in 2025.
