The Secret of Monkey Islandis one of the most influential games of all time, defining the 90s era of point-and-click adventure games created by LucasArts. Creators such asThe Last of Usdirector Neil Druckmann have cited the game as a major influence, and it helped launch the career ofPsychonautscreator Tim Schafer. Now, over 10 years after the last title,Lucasfilm Games, Devolver Digital, and Terrible Toybox have announcedReturn to Monkey Island, a new canonical third entry from original creators Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman.
The Secret of Monkey Islandfirst released in 1990 and quickly went on to become a huge success for Lucasfilm Games (later known as LucasArts.) The game was quickly followed by a sequel,Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge, in 1991, which once again followed wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood as he searched for the legendary treasure “Big Whoop.” At the time,Monkey Island 2’s ending was somewhat controversial. With series creatorRon Gilbert leaving in 1992 to foundFreddi FishandPajama Samdeveloper Humongous Entertainment, LucasArts continued the series mainly ignoring the second game’s ending.
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Hopes for a newMonkey Islandled by Gilbert arose in 2012, when Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.1 billion. Gilbert offered to create a newMonkey Islandgame, should Disney sell him the rights. This, unfortunately, did not work out, and Gilbert went on to found his own studio Terrible Toybox and releaseThimbleweed Parkin 2017. In 2021, Disney announced a new video game publishing arm, once again called Lucasfilm Games, alongside the reveal of newStar WarsandIndiana Jonesgames. It appears now thatthe company is looking to dive into Lucasfilm’s video game back-catalogwith the reveal ofReturn to Monkey Island, which is led by Gilbert along with co-creator Dave Grossman.
The game was announced out of nowhere today afterGilbert jokingly teased that he was making a newMonkey Islandgame on April Fool’s Day. The game will be a new third canonical entry, effectively removingCurse of Monkey Island,Escape From Monkey Island, andTales of Monkey Islandfrom the series' timeline. It will be published by both Lucasfilm Games and Devolver Digital. Platforms have not been revealed, but it’s likely to at least come to PC given the series' history.
Ron Gilbert confirmed on Twitter that Terrible Toybox has been developing the game in secret for two years now, which explains how the game is surprisingly slated to release later in 2022. Series composer Peter McConnell will also be returning for the game’s soundtrack, andKnights and Bikesco-creator andTearawaycreative lead Rex Crowle will be directing the game’s art.
Return to Monkey Islandwill release in 2022.
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