The Ratchet & Clank series, which last saw a major release with Rift Apart in 2021, has recently been the focus of dedicated fans who unearthed a long-forgotten mobile game. Titled Ratchet & Clank: Clone Home, this game was originally announced in the mid-2000s as the successor to Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile. Despite its cancellation and never receiving an official release, a working copy of Clone Home has now been discovered and shared online, marking a significant find for the fan community.
The extensive search for Ratchet & Clank: Clone Home was chronicled in a video by The Golden Bolt’s YouTube channel. Numerous gaming enthusiasts contributed to this multi-year effort, with particular credit given to college students ‘Emily’ and ‘Super Gamer Omega Clank.’ They successfully located a Sony Ericsson W880i phone containing a functional version of the game. The most challenging aspect was overcoming the phone’s encryption, but their perseverance ultimately paid off.
Within the game’s narrative, Clone Home features digital duplicates of Ratchet and Clank. These digital characters collaborate with their real-world counterparts to thwart the schemes of Vox, a familiar antagonist from Going Mobile. The digital duo resides within a video game setting inside Clone Home, and about halfway through the story, the “real” Ratchet and Clank are also transported into this virtual environment.
It is speculated that Clone Home was briefly available online inadvertently before being promptly removed. Although the preserved version is fully playable, the reasons behind its initial cancellation remain unconfirmed. The Golden Bolt suggests a possible legal dispute between Sony and Handheld Games, the developer of Going Mobile, as a potential factor. Furthermore, it is noted that JavaGround, rather than Handheld Games, likely handled the development of Clone Home.
This discovery isn’t the only recent event exciting Ratchet & Clank enthusiasts. Earlier this year, Grant Parker, a senior designer for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, disclosed the existence of a hidden minigame within that title. While Rift Apart was launched on PC in 2023, there has been no official announcement regarding a future sequel in the franchise as of 2025.