In a new interview with MinnMax founder Ben Hanson, ex-Vigil Games founders Joe Madureira and Ryan Stefanelli discussed a “pivotal moment” in their development career. They could either make a Sly Cooper game for the PlayStation Portable with Sony or develop Darksiders with THQ. You can probably guess which choice they made.
Sly Cooper: Shadows in Time (not to be confused with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time) would’ve potentially been a game for the PSP. The pair talked to Sony about a game where Sly would travel through time meeting his ancestors and going up against a time anomaly that looks like an evil version of himself.
“He’s always talking about his ancestors, wouldn’t it be cool if you traveled through time and actually met them and played alongside them,” Madureira explained. There would be themed time period levels, with concept art showing one that’s inspired by the Wild West, but there were also fantasy, medieval-set and prehistoric ideas.
The reason the game never went anywhere was because of Vigil Games’ ultimate passion project: Darksiders. A big portion of the interview discusses an E3 where the duo went from booth to booth trying to pitch the game on an old monitor setup they carted around the show floor. They were able to get a meeting with THQ, which was eager to find an IP that was similar to God of War. It would make Darksiders, but only if Vigil became an integrated THQ studio.
Sony expressed interest for the Darksiders prototype as well, but it didn’t think Vigil could handle a true next-gen game. The company suggested a smaller title for the PSP, which could’ve been Shadows in Time. However, Darksiders was the game they actually wanted to make, and without a firm contract with Sony, they lost their independent status and went with THQ. Vigil Games made the first two Darksiders games, but was eventually shut down after THQ filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Madureira and Stefanelli would later reform as Airship Syndicate and would return to the Darksiders series with Darksiders: Genesis in 2019.
The Darksiders series might be getting a new lease on life of its own. THQ Nordic revealed a teaser during its annual digital showcase for a new Darksiders project, although whether it’s a remake, remaster, or new game is unknown.
However, don’t expect new Sly Cooper projects any time soon. The developers at Sucker Punch Productions said in 2022 that it’s focusing on other projects.
