Sanzaru Games Tried to Revive Jak and Daxter in 2019 — Sony Passed

Some pitches never leave the room. Some never should. And some — the ones that hit you right in the PS2‑era nostalgia gland — make you wish you could un‑know they ever existed.

This is one of those.

Because yes, a Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy remake was pitched to Sony. And yes, Sony said no. If that doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, then do you even have a gamer soul?

This Wasn’t a Sony‑Initiated Revival — It Was a Passion Pitch

To be clear, Sony wasn’t out there quietly greenlighting a Jak revival behind the scenes. This wasn’t a secret project. This was a Sanzaru Games passion pitch, the same way the studio once pitched Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time before Sony eventually signed off on it.

Former Sanzaru animator Travis Howe posted a snippet on LinkedIn: a touched‑up cutscene of Daxter absolutely losing it — polished, expressive, and unmistakably Jak and Daxter. It was part of a 2019 pitch for a remake (or remaster — Howe uses both terms).

Sony passed. The project never moved beyond the pitch deck.

Howe says he’s still “really proud” of how the scene came together. And honestly? You can see why fans are spiraling.

Jak and Daxter Has Been Dormant for 17 Years

The last new Jak game was 2009’s Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, developed by High Impact Games after Naughty Dog moved on. Naughty Dog has admitted they considered revisiting the series during the PS3 era… before choosing to make The Last of Us instead.

Since then, Jak fans have been living on:

• remasters
• racing spin‑offs
• wishful thinking
• and the occasional Naughty Dog “we love Jak, but…” interview

So seeing a modernized cutscene — even just a pitch — hits like a gut punch. It made us think of what could have been if it had been given a chance to spread its wings. Especially in the era of remakes and remasters, even the ones gamers didn’t even ask for!

Fans Are Already Calling It the “Deadpool Treatment” Moment