The Simpsons Hit & Run Dev Gives Tragic Update On Why We Never Got A Sequel

As a devoted fan who’s spent countless hours cruising Springfield in The Simpsons: Hit & Run, I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness upon hearing that a sequel was not only proposed but also within reach – and yet, it never materialized. It feels like finding Homer at the bottom of a Duff beer barrel, knowing there could have been more!


2003’s The Simpsons: Hit & Run, a cherished game that we all wished had a follow-up, seems to have left us hanging for good reasons. Now, an intriguing piece of information has surfaced that might not sit well with fans like me.

According to an interview with Summoning Salt, lead designer Joe McGinn stated that Radical Entertainment intended to create a sequel to their game. Notably, McGinn mentioned that the studio owned the rights for three potential sequels without having to pay any extra licensing fees.

Gracie Films proposed a deal to our publishing company where they would produce three sequels, maintaining all rights and voice actors related to The Simpsons, at no cost to us. This means we wouldn’t have to pay for the license of The Simpsons in other words, as stated by McGinn (through GamesRadar).

Despite the fact that one could have anticipated Radical would proceed with a sequel, surprisingly, things didn’t work out as planned. As it turns out, someone at the publishing company (Vivendi Games) made an unconventional decision and declined the idea, leaving us unsure of who exactly it was.

In the interview, no additional details were shared about the identity of that individual or their reasons for refusing to produce a follow-up, leaving us in the dark about both. Despite the game selling up to 10 million copies throughout its lifetime, suggesting it was profitable enough to warrant a sequel, there may be numerous explanations for why no sequel ever came into being.

20 years after its release, Hit & Run continues to captivate audiences, with a significant portion of this enduring popularity attributed to the speedrunning community. As McGinn remarked, we never anticipated that it would continue to bring joy to some people two decades on!

Following the release of Hit & Run in 2003 by Radical, they went on to create licensed titles such as CSI: Miami for Ubisoft, Scarface: The World is Yours with Vivendi, and later original games Prototype and Prototype 2 with Activision. Their most recent venture was collaborating with Bungie on the initial Destiny project.

As a devoted fan, I can’t help but ponder if the 2003 classic might be set for a revival, considering the trend of remakes and re-releases in today’s gaming landscape. Previously, McGinn himself expressed his enthusiasm about the idea, stating that he would “absolutely love” to see it happen. However, we can only speculate at this point.

With Radical and Vivendi Games no longer in operation, it appears that any potential remake of The Simpsons video game might need to originate from a different development and publishing team. At this moment, it’s unclear which company currently holds the rights to the Simpsons gaming franchise.

In 2007, Electronic Arts released The Simpsons Game, inspired by the movie, and in 2012, they developed The Simpsons: Tapped Out for mobile devices. Unfortunately, this game was removed from distribution in October and will cease service in January. Despite the television series continuing, no news has been shared about potential future video games based on The Simpsons.

Hit & Run served as the second significant Simpsons game developed by Radical, coming after 2001’s Simpsons: Road Rage. Unlike Hit & Run, Road Rage didn’t receive the same level of affection from fans.

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2024-11-25 17:39