Sly Cooper has just turned 20. Next year, he’ll be able to drink legally in the US. And while Sly creator Sucker Punch is celebrating Sly’s birthday with some new merch, it most certainly did not announce any new games or remakes.
"Happy 20th birthday, Sly Cooper," wrote Sucker Punch communications manager Andrew Goldfarb. "Today we are so happy (and a little bit shocked) to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus! Where does the time go? Originally shipped on September 23, 2002 for PS2, this was Sly’s original adventure (known as Sly Raccoon in some parts of the world) and our studio’s first-ever PlayStation game!"
Sly Cooper was Sucker Punch's break-out franchise. Although initially released to poor reviews in the same year that saw the birth of both Ratchet & Clank and Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper sold well enough that it eventually made it into Sony's Greatest Hits product line where it eventually took off, selling over 2.2 million units by 2006. By then, Sucker Punch had already released Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves to rave reviews, cementing the klepto raccoon as another of the PS2's great characters.
After that, Sucker Punch decided to switch things up with Infamous and most recently Ghost of Tsushima, but Sly still holds a special place in the hearts of many Sucker Punch devs. You can read their stories over on the PlayStation Blog, and also check out some new Sly merch. They've got a brand new Sly Cooper 20th anniversary poster and t-shirt from art director Dev Madan, as well as a Sly plushie coming from Fangamer.
On Twitter, fans seem less interested in the merch and more interested in a Sly Cooper remake or even a new entry into the series. Unfortunately, Sucker Punch has already come out and said that it’s got "no plans" for either Sly or Infamous. We’re pretty sure the studio is hard at work on Ghost of Tsushima 2. On the plus side, you can play all three Sly Cooper games in the Classics Catalog of PS Plus.