Seemingly out of nowhere, Square Enix has filed new trademark in their native Japan for a dormant video game franchise; Gex. The company apparently did the same thing last year except in Europe, which could mean that something is potentially happening with the IP. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the series will be getting a remake or a remaster of sorts. It could be that Square Enix is merely doing this so that they don’t lose ownership of the license, giving them complete power to do what they want with it.
For those who don’t know, Gex was one of the more popular platform mascot franchises of the mid to late 1990s, premiering mostly on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 systems. The series was created by Crystal Dynamics, the very same studio who worked on the reboot of Tomb Raider which was critically acclaimed. They have also recently developed Marvel’s Avengers, and are currently working on the upcoming long-awaited new entry for Perfect Dark.
The studio, along with their parent company Eidos was acquired by Square Enix in 2009, giving them complete rights to Gex. Ever since there was some speculation that the company would utilize it in some form or another, but for the past 10 plus years there has been nothing but silence. Gex was one of many mascot titles to grace the 1990s with some degree of success. Sadly, and like the majority of them, Gex fell to the wayside as soon as the new millennium turned. There have been some instances of those mascots being resurrected, such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, so the chances are still there. Hopefully, Square Enix makes some more moves with this IP and attempts a proper revival.