LogIn“Some crazy person at the publisher - we never found out who - said no.”
The 2003 action-adventure game The Simpsons Hit & Run has been one of the childhood favorites for many, and some even believe it was the best Simpsons game so far. Even today, 20 years after its launch, it still shines like a piece of gems on the crown. However, unlike many other hit titles that naturally become the beginning of a long-lived franchise, the game, which reportedly sold over 10 million in its lifetime, never received a sequel.
Recently, a video titled “The History of The Simpsons Hit & Run World Records” by speedrun historian Summoning Salt summoned not only players who are big fans of the game but also developers from Radical Entertainment. Joe McGinn, the lead designer of the game, showed up in the comment section and shed some light on why there was never a sequel.
It is surprising for McGinn to see so many players still memorizing the game and enjoying it after such a long time. "We never imagined it would still be bringing some people happiness 20 years later!" McGinn said. When recalling what had happened to the possible sequel, he shared a painful fact:
“Gracie Films offered our publisher a deal to make three sequels, with all Simpsons rights and voice actors, for the preferred price of zero dollars (we wouldn't have to pay anything for the Simpsons license in other words). Some crazy person at the publisher [Vivendi] - we never found out who - said no.”
The real reason sounds brutal: sequels to a beloved franchise never showed up simply because a person downvoted them. Perhaps only someone at Vivendi Universal Games would know the real reason.
Besides letting the public know what was going on back then, McGinn also answered some questions from fans. When asked if he is a fan of The Simpsons, he said: “we were huge fans, the whole team. That was around season 12, the show's golden age. And yeah that made it super fun to make the game.”
Interestingly, other than McGinn, Jeff, who was the lead world builder and level designer of the game and is now a professor teaching level design at Sheridan College, also appeared in the comment section, which McGinn called a “reunion.” According to Jeff, “There are principles here [in The Simpsons Hit & Run] that were next applied to building cities in Midnight Club at R* and later in Carnage Racing.”
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