Insomniac Games Cannot Develop Sunset Overdrive 2 Because Of Microsoft

The highly beloved Sunset Overdrive franchise has been dormant for a long time, and silence from Insomniac Games has only given fans hope until recently. We may not be getting a new sequel anytime soon. As spotted by the industry insider and eXputer writer eXtas1stv on Twitter, Microsoft still apparently owns the exclusive publishing rights to the series. It is likely preventing the studio from developing anything in the franchise.

👀🔥 OJO A LO QUE ENCONTRÉ 🚨

En los documentos internos de Insomniac se puede ver que Xbox tiene asegurados los derechos para publicar DOS SECUELAS de Sunset Overdrive pic.twitter.com/GHa6EPgXZ2

— eXtas1s 🎮 Noticias & Rumores (@eXtas1stv) December 20, 2023

The tidbit was allegedly dug out from an internal doc related to the recent Insomniac Games leak situation. And it only adds a new layer of complexity to the already-troubled franchise. Microsoft currently owns the rights to publish the following two sequels, DLCs, or any other releases connected with Sunset Overdrive. It could explain the silence of Sony and Insomniac regarding the popular IP.

Fans also suspect the publishing rights held by Microsoft are the justification behind no remasters or sequels over the years. It is worth noting that Insomniac Games still holds the IP rights for the series. It can develop Sunset Overdrive 2 or a remaster but cannot publish on Sony consoles. And as a first-party Sony studio, that move would not be viable for the team or the publisher. The duration of the publishing rights is also unknown for now.

It seems like having IP rights will not come in handy for Insomniac anytime soon. It is unclear whether the studio actually wants to work on the game. The same barrage of leaks also hinted that a sequel was once in development but got canned soon because Insomniac wanted to focus on 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man. 

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Another reason behind the lack of a Sunset Overdrive sequel could be the poor profits of the game. Apparently, it only made about $567 worth of profit for the studio, which is almost a flop. Microsoft was going through particularly tough times during the Xbox One days, which likely played a role in the game’s poor performance. Fans argue it may have discouraged the studio from giving the IP another chance.

Insomniac Games recently fell victim to a ransomware attack, causing details about its future projects to be leaked. Unfortunately, Sunset Overdrive 2 is nowhere on its timeline for the current decade. The devs are apparently developing many of the Spider-Man and X-Man games over the next ten years. A Rachet and Clank title and a new IP are also intended to come out towards the end of the decade.