A group of passionate Sly Cooper fans are bringing the franchise to the PC for the first time, working on getting Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus running on PC. The Sly Cooper port would be the first time the franchise has had a native playable version on PC.
The stealth games centered around the titular raccoon protagonist quickly became one of Sony’s most popular franchises of the early 2000s. The Sly Cooper series had its heyday on the PlayStation 2, releasing a trilogy of games that received universal praise from fans and critics alike. Though Sucker Punch has referenced Sly Cooper in games like Ghost of Yotei, the franchise has not received a fully new game in over a decade since the release of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time in 2012. Now, a group of Sly Cooper fans are attempting to develop a native port of the original game on PC.
Sly Cooper Fans Are Attempting to Create a Native PC Port
Project Cane is a bold new fan project aiming to get Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racconus to run natively on PC. The project intends to fully rebuild the code of the original Sly Cooper game to run without the use of an emulator, using the original data from the game to recreate it on PC. Project Cane has released a PC demonstration of the game, showing off the “A Stealthy Approach” mission, complete with cutscenes and gameplay. Project Cane confirmed that the native PC port of Sly Cooper is still in early development, with no confirmed release date.
Project Cane’s port of Sly Cooper will give fans a brand-new way to experience the beloved mascot platformer. The original Sly Cooper games were exclusive to the PS2, only receiving ports to newer Sony consoles. The Sly Collection, released in 2010 as a compilation of the first three games, launched as a PS3 exclusive and later received a port to PlayStation Vita. Even Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time never saw an official launch outside a Sony console, with the game launching simultaneously on the PS3 and Vita. Developer Sucker Punch has also confirmed that the studio is likely done with the Sly Cooper franchise.
Sly Cooper was one of a multitude of mascot franchises from different developers published by Sony throughout the PS2 era. The Jak and Daxter franchise was a fan-favorite following the original release of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, also launching a trilogy of games on the console, with fans now clamoring for a Jak and Daxter remake. Ratchet and Clank was also a mainstay throughout the PS2 and PS3 era, with four games released on the PS2 and occasionally reappearing in the years since, including 2021’s Ratchet and Clank: Rifts Apart reviving the series after eight years of dormancy.
While mascot platformers are not as ubiquitous as their prime in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sony has plenty of modern examples of successful series. LittleBigPlanet was a smash hit for Sony in the PS3 era, with the customizable platformer series winning multiple awards and turning Sackboy into a major mascot for PlayStation. The popular Astro Bot series has been a particularly recent example of Sony striking gold with its mascot platformers, with Astro Bot winning Game of the Year at the 2024 Game Awards. The Sly Cooper port brings back a classic adventure from one of Sony’s most beloved mascots.
- Released
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September 23, 2002
- ESRB
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E For Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Tobacco Reference
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Computer Entertainment
- Engine
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Kinetica