A sequel to The Simpsons: Hit & Run was once in development at Radical Entertainment before publisher Vivendi pulled the plug on it and declined an offer to make five more Simpsons games. It’s not known why Vivendi turned down such a lucrative deal, especially since Hit & Run is one of the most popular Simpsons games, though we now unfortunately know that a sequel will probably never see the light of day.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run launched back in 2003 and released for the PS2, Xbox, GameCube and PC. Borrowing elements from Grand Theft Auto, Hit & Run let players mostly free-roam a sandbox Springfield and cause mayhem. It was well-received by fans and critics and went on to become somewhat of a cult classic in the gaming community.
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According to producer John Melchior, Hit & Run 2 was actually in development at Radical Entertainment at one point. However, Vivendi turned down an offer to develop five Simpsons games and retain the license, leading to the sequel’s halted development. Melchior explains:
“Simpsons Hit & Run 2 would have been done by Radical, [and] there was a medieval Simpsons game that Matt Groening pitched, which was being done at Stormfront after Lord of the Rings. The biggest crime was that Vivendi did not obtain the Simpsons licence, though they had an offer in.The Simpsons came back with an offer, five games for X amount of dollars, it was a really good deal, and Vivendi said no. After the success of Hit & Run.”
“It was sad, because I think we had a ton of momentum,” Melchior added. “There was no momentum loss between the shipping of this game and the work being done on the sequel.”
The last major Simpsons game to be released was 2007’s The Simpsons Game which was developed by EA Redwood Shores (which would become Visceral Games) and published by Electronic Arts.
Source: PlayStation Universe
