Insomniac Being Given Back the Keys to One PlayStation Classic Could Be a Recipe for Success

Insomniac Games is widely regarded as one of the best, most prolific studios under Sony's first-party umbrella. Even before it was acquired by PlayStation in 2019, the developer had fostered a close relationship with SIE and partnered up with the console manufacturer on many occasions since the inception of the two companies. Throughout the last few decades, Insomniac Games has had a near-flawless track record when it comes to releasing high-quality titles. From recent hits like Marvel's Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart to underrated classics like Sunset Overdrive, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Stormland, the company has no shortage of acclaimed games in its catalog.

Before Insomniac started working on Marvel IPs like Spider-Man and Wolverine, in addition to the Ratchet and Clank games, it created an iconic series that played a pivotal role in the company's history. The franchise in question was, of course, Spyro the Dragon. As one of the tentpole exclusives for Sony's first PlayStation console, this series of acclaimed 3D platformers was immensely popular in the late 1990s and is still beloved to this day. That being said, even though the franchise's latest installment, 2018's Spyro Reignited Trilogy, was both a critical and commercial success, the Spyro IP is mostly dormant nowadays. However, if Insomniac Games was given the opportunity to revive Spyro and work on it again, the developer could take the series to new heights.

Insomniac Working on Spyro Again Would Be a Dream Come True

The Spyro Series Played a Big Part in Insomniac's History

The long-running Spyro franchise got its start with the release of Spyro the Dragon on the PS1 in 1998, which was the second game Insomniac had ever made. Prior to this, the company's first title was an FPS called Disruptor, which sold so poorly that it almost went bankrupt after the release of the game. Because this title was such an immense failure, the future of Insomniac was essentially dependent on the success of Spyro the Dragon. Fortunately, the game ended up selling more than enough copies to save the company. Not only was the title met with widespread acclaim from critics, but it also sold upwards of 1,000,000 units in North America alone by December 1999.

Spyro the Dragon's success spawned two direct sequels developed by Insomniac Games, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The former was released in November 1999 and the latter launched in October 2000. Both Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon were just as critically and commercially successful, if not more so, than their predecessor. In spite of this, YotD ended up being the third and final Spyrogame by Insomniac, as the studio moved on to other titles like 2002's Ratchet and Clank. Afterward, the development of the franchise was shifted over to a multitude of other developers in the following years, including companies like Equinoxe Digital Entertainment, Krome Studios, and Digital Eclipse.

A New, Insomniac-Developed Spyro Game Would Likely Be Great, But There's a Caveat

Though it has been decades since the company last developed a Spyro title, Insomniac's success with other 3D platformers like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart proves that the studio still has the knack for making enjoyable, family-friendly titles. As such, if Insomniac were to develop a new, mainline Spyro game, then there's no doubt that the company would provide a high-quality experience, one that could, in fact, restore the mainstream popularity the franchise once had during the PS1 generation.

However, due to Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision-Blizzard and, in turn, the Spyro IP, it's very unlikely that a new, Insomniac-developed Spyro game will ever come to fruition. Even if Spyro remains fully multiplatform under the console manufacturer's control, the chances of Xbox and PlayStation collaborating on a video game together are incredibly slim. At this point, there are only two plausible ways Insomniac could ever work on Spyro again. Either the studio becomes independent and departs from PlayStation, or Microsoft sells the IP to Sony. Sadly, even these two outcomes are pretty improbable, all things considered.