Jak and Daxter Fans, Brace for Disappointment

Many developers propose ideas that never come to fruition. You might be the type who prefers to avoid the disappointment of unfulfilled promises, or perhaps you’re curious about what could have been, even if it will never materialize. If you’re a fan of Jak and Daxter and have been longing for the classic PS2 platformers, it’s time to decide where you stand. A remake was indeed pitched to Sony, but it didn’t make the cut.

To clarify, Sony wasn’t actively seeking a remake of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. This pitch was reminiscent of the initial proposal for Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, where developer Sanzaru approached Sony, which eventually greenlit the project, leading to the PS3 sequel’s release in 2013. Travis Howe, a former animator at Sanzaru, shared a glimpse on LinkedIn of a polished scene from the original Jak and Daxter that was presented to Sony in 2019 as part of a pitch for a remake or remaster (Howe uses the terms interchangeably). Although the remake never came to be, Howe expressed pride in how the scene of Daxter panicking turned out in the final pitch.

There hasn’t been a new Jak and Daxter title since 2009’s Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, which was released on the PS2 and PSP by High Impact Games after the original developer, Naughty Dog, handed it off. Naughty Dog had considered reviving the series during the PS3 era but ultimately chose to develop The Last of Us instead. While it seems this remake pitch was ultimately rejected by Sony, it’s reassuring to know that some fans still remember the beloved PS2 classics.

Sanzaru was acquired by Meta and shifted its focus to VR games in 2020, but the studio was shut down in January of this year.