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The Simpsons: Hit & Run Dev Discusses Why Cult Hit Never Got A Sequel

Alex_Moretti 0 Comments

In the two decades since the launch of The Simpsons: Hit & Run, fans have wondered why a sequel was never made, and now we may have a bit more of an idea. Back in 2003 developer Radical Entertainment and publisher Vivendi Games released the cult classic, donning a semi-open world game with a strong emphasis on driving mechanics.

In a MinnMax interview with executive producer John Melchior, he stated that he didn’t know, further elaborating that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand why, as most of the production staff didn’t understand either.

As the game is based on The Simpsons, Melchior brought up Vivendi not being able to obtain the license as a probability. In 2005 Electronic Arts purchased the rights to the Simpsons video games, however, it hasn’t released anything with the license in over 16 years since 2007’s The Simpsons Game. With EA in charge of the Simpsons license, there seems to be no hope for a sequel, however, many fans still hope for a remaster even to this day.

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Naughty Dog Had Waning Relationship With IP Owner

Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger 0 Comments
Naughty Dog

There are two games that older PlayStation gamers know from Naughty Dog before the likes of The Last of Us – Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot. Well, it turns out the reason behind the developer never touching the bandicoot again since 1999’s Crash Team Racing was because of a toxic relationship between developer and IP owner.

Initially, Crash was owned by Universal and according to Naughty Dog co-founder, Jason Rubin, their relationship got to the point of them not being able to make new Crash games.

“Our relationship with Universal had gotten to the point where we couldn’t continue to make Crash Bandicoot games. Although we loved Crash Bandicoot and we loved working with Sony, it didn’t make any financial sense. Universal owned the IP, and there was a hostility there that was just brutal.”

This led to multiple developers in the studio quietly forming a new engine that would later be the foundation of Jak and Daxter.

Since the merger in 2007, Activision acquired the IP.

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