But it’s complicated
Matt Selman has been working on The Simpsons since 1997, and is still at it as an executive producer. So if there’s something Simpsons related stewing about, he’s kind of an authority on it. That includes the classic Grand Theft Auto-like Simpsons: Hit & Run from 2003.
Speaking to IGN, Selman wants to see it come back in some form (which would be perfectly timed given how many random games of that era are remastered), but it’s not that easy. According to Selman, “it’s a complicated corporate octopus to try to make that happen.” He reminisces on how the game originally took shape, stating: “We were all playing Grand Theft Auto at the time and [the] publisher… they just wanted another driving game. And we were like, everyone’s playing whatever version of Grand Theft Auto, people need to get out of the cars. That was a huge creative battle over whether it was just a ‘driving around doing missions’ game or a ‘getting out of the car and doing missions’ game. But I do think the battle was worth fighting.”
While he doesn’t elaborate on exactly why that corporate octopus is untenable (we can probably guess), we’ve seen numerous agents responsible for making that game happen speak up and say they want to make a remake/remaster a reality, but nothing has moved on that front. Just a few years ago the game’s producer Vlad Ceraldi talked about how Hit & Run withstood the test of time, and a fan petition for a modern Hit & Run has reached over 26,000 signatures.
At this point I think the easiest path is a sequel, using the updated voices of the show (while the principals are still active), with all of the rights issues ironed out. Given how little we’ve seen The Simpsons cross over into the video game realm since the freemium money-sucking Tapped Out, I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen. But we can believe.