In recent years, PlayStation may have entertained at some point the idea of recreating some of its most beloved properties in new and modern iterations that would use current technology. This information comes from a former Sony employee who has recently started talking a bit about the secret work he did in his time in a PlayStation studio.
Speaking with David Jaffe, the former director of titles like God of war i Twisted metal, Michael Mumbauer, former head of Sony San Diego Studio, talked a bit about what his role was in the developer while he was there. Mumbauer’s first position at first was to lead a visual arts group that would support other Sony studios, but over time, that began to change.
Mumbauer explained that during Shawn Layden’s tenure as head of SIE Worldwide Studios, the once-in-a-lifetime boss was very interested in exploring remakes and remasters of current hardware. Mumbauer specifically pointed out the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy as an example of this project that Layden apparently helped roll the ball. As this initiative gained momentum across Sony as a whole, Mumbauer explained that a new Sony San Diego development team met in order to pursue this adventure.
“Remakes and remasters were the things I was pursuing. That’s why the developer team was created, “Mumbauer said in the conversation.” What I can tell you is that it was what I was pursuing because I believed there was value in doing something like a remake. God of war to today’s visual fidelity. Or a remake of Uncharted 1 to today’s visual fidelity ”.
Needless to say, Mumbauer never said that his team at Sony San Diego Studio started working properly on a remake of any kind of PlayStation. Instead, he just points out that it was something he was looking at a lot at one point. Nor is it known whether Mumbauer only used it God of war i Without exploring as widespread examples of possible redevelopments or if they were properties he might have tried to actively recreate.
If this was at some point something that was sweating at Sony San Diego, it seems to be no longer so. Although Mumbauer is no longer in the studio, this secret development team, which still exists and is made up of about 200 people in total, is now said to be working on a new unknown title. Some have theorized that it could be this project Uncharted 5, but this has not yet been proven true.
All in all, it’s pretty fascinating to know that PlayStation could have seriously analyzed some major remakes like this a few years ago. While titles like MediEvil, Shadow of the colossus, i Parappa the Raper they were remade or remastered, it would have been interesting to see this same treatment given to some more prominent titles.
So what do you think? Want to see other remakes and remasters of some of the most popular PlayStation games from before they returned to PS5? As usual, you can give me your opinion in the comments or on Twitter at @ MooreMan12.