First new Ratchet & Clank game in 4 years is a mobile-only shooter

There’s finally a new Ratchet & Clank game – just the second in nine years – but it’s not what you’d think. Ranger Rumble is a mobile-only, free-to-play shooter.

Insomniac Games kicked off the Ratchet & Clank series on the PS2 in 2002. With a dozen games in the decade that followed, not including a handful of spinoffs, it became one of PlayStation’s most popular franchises.

However, the series has mostly been on ice in recent years as Insomniac focuses on Marvel games like Spider-Man and Wolverine. In fact, in the past decade, we’ve seen just two games – Ratchet & Clank in 2016, followed by Rift Apart in 2021.

Now, a third game has finally been announced after a four-year gap, but it’s not quite what you’d expect. Ranger Rumble is a free-to-play mobile-only game.

New Ratchet & Clank mobile game explained

Brushing past the fact we already had Going Mobile back in 2005, Ranger Rumble is a shooter adopting the skin of Ratchet & Clank. It features characters like Captain Qwark, and even lets you customize your own Lombax, all with the goal of becoming the next Galactic Ranger.

The game is being developed by Oh BiBi, a studio formed in 2012 with ample experience on mobile titles, including Frag Pro Shooter, a game with over 150 million installs.

Ranger Rumble is technically in its ‘early access’ phase, only available in select regions by pre-registering, with more locations being added over time. There’s currently no exact release date or even rough release window for the finished product.

Based on a look through some early livestreams, we can see the early build packs in a Shop with microtransactions to customize and upgrade your Heroes, and it also features a Battle Pass, known here as a Qwark Pass.

There are three game modes available out of the gate, ranging from deathmatch, to Bolt Rush, and even a Rocket League-esque playlist called Blast Ball.

This particular project wasn’t included among the infamous Insomniac Games leak of 2023, wherein, we learned the next mainline Ratchet & Clank game is targeting Fiscal Year 2029.