A Simpsons Hit and Run revival looks increasingly real after Matt Groening appeared to confirm the original game is returning ‘in some form’ at Disney’s D23 expo, only for current showrunner Matt Selman to step in with a hasty ‘or not’ that fooled absolutely nobody in the room.
What Happened at D23
A fan asked Groening directly whether another The Simpsons: Hit & Run game was on the way. His response, captured by Empire Magazine and widely circulated, was about as unambiguous as a half-finished sentence can be: ‘I think the original game is coming back in some form…’ Selman’s interjection came a beat too late. The damage, if you can call it that, was done.
It has been 23 years since Hit & Run first rolled onto PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube, and the appetite for its return has never really gone away. Open-world Springfield with a Z80’s worth of personality packed into every block, there simply has not been anything quite like it since. The Simpsons’ Fortnite tie-ins scratch a certain itch, but anyone who spent their weekends collecting wasp cameras around Evergreen Terrace knows they are a different proposition entirely.
The Studio Behind the Original and What Became of It
The road from that original release to any potential Simpsons Hit and Run revival is a winding one. Radical Entertainment, the studio that built the game, found itself absorbed into a larger corporate structure after the 2008 Activision Blizzard merger, and was effectively dismantled by its new owners in the years that followed. That looked like the end of the road for the team responsible for one of the most beloved licensed games ever made.
Earlier in 2026, however, many of those same developers resurfaced under a new banner: New Radical Games. According to Notebookcheck, the studio’s new website puts Hit & Run front and centre, showcasing the game prominently and highlighting the team’s ability to remaster classic titles. The slate has been left deliberately open, as noted by Comic Shop Locator, which is exactly the kind of positioning you adopt when you are waiting for a licence to clear.
Licensing Was Always the Complication
That word, licence, is where things get thorny. In a March interview with People, Selman had already addressed the question of a remaster or remake directly. He expressed genuine interest in seeing it happen but was candid that licensing issues represented a real obstacle. His parting message to fans was ‘Never say never’, which reads rather differently now that Groening has gone and said something rather more specific on a stage in front of an audience.
The timing is hard to ignore. New Radical Games reforming in 2026, Selman flagging licensing complications earlier in the same year, and then Groening’s near-announcement at D23 all point toward a situation where an agreement is either close or already reached, with a formal reveal still to come. Whether that takes the shape of a straight remaster, a full remake or something in between remains unsaid.
The game’s 25th anniversary falls in a couple of years, which would make for an obvious peg. A remastered Hit & Run timed to that milestone, possibly from the hands of the people who made it the first time around, is the scenario most fans are now quietly hoping Groening’s slip has put in motion.
