Well, this is interesting. Or absolutely nothing. One of the two.
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has seemingly suggested that The Simpsons: Hit & Run is making a comeback, only for showrunner Matt Selman to immediately jump in and muddy the waters.
During a Simpsons panel at Disney’s D23, an audience member asked whether the upcoming second Simpsons movie could potentially lead to another Hit & Run game.
“That would certainly be a treat,” replied Selman, who actually co-wrote the original game.
Then Groening casually dropped this:
“I don’t know if I’m speaking out of turn, [but] I think the original game is coming back in some form.”
According to VGC, the comment was met with gasps from the audience, before Selman quickly added:
“Or… not.”
Groening then moved the conversation onto an anecdote about Hit & Run and its predecessor, The Simpsons: Road Rage.
So, before anyone starts dusting off their wallet, this is absolutely not confirmation of a remake, remaster or anything else.
It is, however, a pretty interesting comment when combined with some recent rumours.
Back in June, VGC journalist Jordan Middler strongly hinted that Activision was reviving a much-requested licensed game. Speaking on the VGC podcast, he said:
“The one that everyone’s absolutely desperate for is happening.”
He stopped short of naming it, but later signed off by saying the team was going to “hit and run” out of there. Subtle.
Then there’s the fact that Selman himself said earlier this year that fans should “never say never” when asked about Hit & Run returning, although he has previously pointed out that licensing and corporate rights make bringing the game back complicated.
Fans have already demonstrated exactly how much demand exists. Developer Reubs spent years rebuilding Hit & Run in Unreal Engine 5 as a personal project, eventually completing the entire game in 2023. Unfortunately, copyright issues mean the remake can’t actually be publicly released.
None of this proves an official version exists. But between Middler’s extremely unsubtle teasing and Matt bloody Groening now saying he thinks the original game is “coming back in some form”, I’m certainly paying attention.
