Rumor: Ape Escape revival in development at Evening Star

A new Ape Escape is in development at Penny’s Big Breakaway developer Evening Star, which was founded by the team that created Sonic Mania, according to reports by VGC and veteran games journalist Jeff Gerstmann.

On the latest episode of The Jeff Gerstmann Show, Gerstman said:

“So, there are people out there talking about Ape Escape—like Sony’s making a new Ape Escape game, which I feel we were talking about here… god, I guess that was like, what? The beginning of this year, we were talking about Ape Escape? So yeah, some other folks have kind of said that they also heard that Ape Escape is being made. I don’t think this game is like, close to being out or anything like that, but I guess it’s been almost a year since we started talking about Ape Escape around these parts.

“Who is making it? That’s a good question. My understanding is that it’s an external studio. You know, because people were immediately like, ‘Oh, [Team ASOBI]’s making it.’ No, no. My understanding is that an external team has been working on that. What do they make… the yo-yo game… Penny’s Big Breakaway. Evening Star. I heard that they were working on it.

“I heard that a while ago. But at the time that I initially heard it, it sounded like it was a game that had been like just barely greenlit and like wasn’t really, you know, like something that hadn’t necessarily… you know, that it was kind of just getting underway. That’s that’s why I say even like—it’s been 10 months or whatever it’s been, you know—if they’ve been working on it all this time, I’m sure they’ve got something by now.

“But that’s why I say I don’t, you know—this is not a game that is probably going to get like announced and released this year or anything like that. But that is what I heard. You know, not necessarily the most corroborated, multiple source thing, but that is what I heard about an Ape Escape game. And I heard that, well, gosh… I mean I was asking people questions at [D.I.C.E. Summit] this year about this Ape Escape game. So that was February. So there ya go.”

VGC corroborated Gertmann’s report, stating that it matches what it heard from its own sources, and that it heard from “multiple sources” that Sony Interactive Entertainment plans to revive other dormant franchises via third-party development.

MP1st recently claimed that Guerrilla Games is working with an external studio on a Killzone remaster or remake, though it is unclear which game specifically.

Back in December 2024, Evening Star founder Hunter Bridges, who is based in Tokyo, Japan, posted a tweet in Japanese and English with an Ape Escape poster, asking, “Who out there knows Ape Escape…” And in July 2025, Bridges reposted an Evening Star job listing for a senior 3D character artist, adding that they should have “proven experience modeling, rigging, and animating anime-styled characters.”