PlayStation Files Trademark For Long-Forgotten Franchise

People often talk about the PlayStation 5’s lacklustre launch line up, as if the PlayStation 4 had not set the bar low enough with its initial release offerings. 

Those who were into their FPS games could feast upon Battlefield 4, Call Of Duty: Ghosts, and Killzone Shadow Fall. Equally, sports fanatics had their games of choice to play; whether that was FIFA, Madden, Just Dance or NBA. However, the games released in 2013 alongside the PS4 were always criticised for their lack of variety. Admittedly there was Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, fondly remembered as one of the best entries in the series, but contrast this with games like Angry Birds: Star Wars and, of course, the legendary Knack.

Knack has become a thing of memes. Technically it runs smoothly and looks alright. The game is at least noteworthy for having a protagonist that can change size. However, the repetitive gameplay and barren level design had left Knack with the honour of being one of the most average games in history. Reviews backed this up. Even today Knack has a very middling 54 on Metacritic.

Many believed Knack to be a one-and-done title for Sony. The company had trialled a new IP but it hadn’t captured fans. In 2017, much to everyone’s surprise, a sequel was announced and soon afterwards released. Knack 2 indeed made improvements on the original. By beefing up the combat, and focusing more on the platforming and puzzles, it did far better than its predecessor. This still doesn’t mean it was a great game, but a passable one, now scoring 69 on the same review aggregator. 

Now you have a history of all that is Knack, you can understand why fans have been somewhat shocked at Sony’s latest trademark. As spotted by Gematsu, Sony has gone to lengths to get its Knack paperwork in order, ready for what looks like a Knack threequel. The trademark was filed on 17 March, but the information was only made public yesterday (28 March).