A sequel to Radical Entertainment’s action adventure game, The Simpsons Hit & Run, was in development at one point, but ultimately canceled
Speaking during an interview, Radical Entertainment programmers Cary Brisebois and Greg Mayer, producer Steve Bocska, designer Darren Evenson, executive producer John Melchior and designer-writer Chris Mitchell revealed that a sequel to The Simpsons Hit & Run was in the works at one point, but development was eventually scrapped.
As to why The Simpsons Hit & Run 2 was canceled, Melchior stated that The Simpsons team came in with a five game deal for less money than what publisher Vivendi Universal Games had probably paid for the first game. The publisher turned down the offer, however. He mentioned how his boss at Fox was confused as to why the Vivendii didn’t accept the deal. “He was just like, ‘I don’t understand. I gave it to you on a silver platter, why aren’t you just saying yes and doing these games?’ It was just a really bizarre decision. I’ll never understand it. Most people on the production level never understood it.”
Regarding new features that were planned for the sequel, it was mentioned that Mayer had developed a prototype to show how it would expand upon the original’s driving features. The Simpsons Hit & Run 2 was said to let players tow objects from vehicles. Outside of this prototype, a few assets, and a bunch of presentation slides, no further work had been done on the sequel. Regarding the storyline, Mitchell mentioned that it was far from ready. “In those early days, kind of everybody just imagines what they want, so I’m sure there were 12 competing storylines at that point,” he said. “Who knows what the final story would have been?”
While we may never get a sequel to The Simpsons Hit & Run, fans now have the opportunity to try out a fan remake of the original.
