Happy 20th Birthday, Sly Cooper! Today we are very happy (and a little shocked) to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Anniversary of Sly Cooper and Tibius Raccoon! where does the time goOriginally shipped for his PS2 on September 23rd, 2002, this is Sly’s original adventure (known in parts of the world as Slyacoon) and our studio’s first ever PlayStation game!
Before we get the party hats and cake ready, there are some new Sly Cooper merch we’re announcing today to celebrate the milestone. I wanted to share some memories of the team that helped shape the series I know and love. Initialization:
Sly 1’s level design was a great learning experience. From prototyping his Muggshot rooftop with LEGO, to countless level iterations done to get the feel and gameplay just right. I remember the different level variations I worked on, so even if you play it now, you can still wonder what the final version is!
– Rob McDaniel, Senior Technical Artist
Sly 1 was our first big game, and there were multiple milestones where the game was in great danger of being cancelled. The biggest breakthrough for me was the epoch when Bentley and Sly invented the planning “Binoc-u-com”.
At the time we were building Sly, so many games were pushing the visual execution bar with cutscenes. It was far beyond our capabilities at the time. One of our best decisions was to reverse that trend and instead make the cutscenes more graphic. This gave us something distinct and unique, but it also allowed us to avoid an arms race that we could never win. A great choice, one we use in all our Sly games and have evolved since InFamous.
Sly was the first game to use skinned characters. Setting his TAIL correctly is one of his most difficult tasks. He created a number of unsuccessful solutions, including custom he spline he controls for animators. The “correct” answer was to animate only the base of the tail and build a real-time simulation of him for the rest. To this day, we still have a “tail” simulation to use in place!
Favorite moment? The ending of Sly 1 – this is my favorite sequence we’ve shipped so far! The last bit of the 10 second head start is perfect.
Finally, remember how small the team was! His 25 people who appear in the credits are the entire studio, including the testers and his office staff. Like the old days!
– Brian Fleming, co-founder
One mission in Sly 3 animated a lemonade drinking game. Bentley had to press a button in a few poses and gobble up a few of his NPCs before a barroom brawl erupted. It was primitive, but when one of the animators finally replaced it with something better, it was good enough to get us there about three weeks before it shipped. Whether it was a didactic story or not, I don’t know, it was a fun example of the teamwork focus that drives Sucker Punch to this day. There were tons of custom mechanics, including combat, disguise, fireworks combat, red-blue 3D, and hotseat multiplayer. Without a lot of teamwork, it wouldn’t have been possible.
– Adrian Bentley, Programming Director
In Sly Cooper’s time, the team was much smaller, and as a result each of us had to work on different things. One week I laid out the streets of the city and the next I helped coordinate the battle of the pirate ships. Sly’s cartoon reality allowed me to put in whatever piqued my interest for the month. We make decisions about the ones that made us laugh the most. It has a bohemian atmosphere and I am truly grateful to have been able to participate. Also, the voice actor who played Bentley (Matt Olsen) worked at a record store near my house. It was cool to meet him over the weekend and get some tips on bands I hadn’t heard of.
– Nate Fox, Creative Director
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since the world first met Sly, but we wanted to throw his birthday party in style. Earlier this week, the celebrations began as The Sly Collection, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and Bentley’s Hackpack joined his PlayStation Plus*’s Premium Classics catalog for his members. Beyond that, today we are pleased to unveil some new art and merchandise to honor the legacy of the franchise.
First, Dev Madan, Art Director of the original Sly Cooper, has created an absolutely stunning tribute to 20 years of Sly with a beautiful original piece of art chock-full of references and Easter eggs.
It’s easy to stare at all the fine details. Today he has two ways to display this gorgeous poster in your home.
First, we partnered with our friends at Cook & Becker to create a super high quality fine art print of our anniversary art. Printed on FSC certified Radiant White 270gsm paper, this print is available in two sizes. Hand-numbered pieces are available starting at US$120. Both versions will not be available until supplies last and will include a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the artist’s Dev Madan.
Prints will ship in early October 2022. Available for pre-order today at Cook & Becker Worldwide shipping available.
We also have a separate poster print of the art available on the PlayStation Gear store. This is an 18″ x 24″ print on 100lb glossy paper. Priced at US$24.95 with an estimated shipping date of December 2nd.
Dev Madan also created a new Sly Cooper 20th Anniversary T-shirt design available on the PlayStation Gear store. Featuring new art from Bentley, Murray, Carmelita Fox and Sly herself. This 4.3 oz., 100% combed ringspun cotton shirt also features his Sly Cooper 20th Anniversary logo on the right sleeve. The price is his US$33.95 and the estimated shipping date is his December 2nd.
PlayStation Gear shipping is available in the following regions:
- Latin America: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
- EU: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK
Pre-orders for both shirts and posters are available starting today. playstation gear store!
And finally today, our friends at Fangamer have created a brand new Sly Cooper 20th Anniversary Plush! This adorable version of Sly stands approximately 9 inches tall and has a plush wand that can be attached to Sly’s hand via magnets. is included. Fangamer will begin shipping his Sly plushies around the world early next year. Sign up for Fangamer now You will be alerted as soon as your order is available!
Thank you for supporting Sly Cooper for 20 years. In just a few weeks, Sucker Punch will celebrate his 25th anniversary overall. We’ve moved on to new worlds since then, but working with Sly is an incredible part of a legacy that we’ll always be proud of. I hope you enjoy doing it. If you get your hands on the merchandise announced today, send us a picture on Twitter to show us your collection. @SuckerPunchProd!
*Game library varies by time, region/country and plan. PS Plus will automatically accrue subscription fees until you cancel. Applicable Conditions: play.st/psplus-usageterms
