The original Simpsons Hit and Run studio is back, but here's why you should keep your remaster or sequel hopes in check

Radical Entertainment, the developer behind 2003 classic The Simpsons Hit and Run, appears to be back from the dead, as a website for a studio called New Radical Games has appeared online. Naturally, given the inclusion of artwork from the beloved game on this new website, fans have been crossing fingers that this could signal a remaster or remake of Hit and Run. However, while there are some reasons to be hopeful, you should probably keep your expectations in check.

Based purely on nostalgia factor, The Simpsons Hit and Run is probably my favorite videogame of all time. As a kid, it was definitely up there as one of my most-played childhood games, and whenever I bump into my dusty old PS2 during clear-outs and house moves, I can never resist spinning it up once again. The GTA-inspired racing game turns 23 years old this year (ew) and a lack of a sequel has bemused fans for that entire time. The Simpsons' recent Fortnite crossover also ended an extremely long wait for any kind of Springfield-based videogame experience on PC and consoles that's lasted for almost as long. The collab's popularity sparked hope that maybe, just maybe, a new Simpsons game could arrive in the future, and now fans are getting excited all over again with the emergence of New Radical Games, a rebirth of Hit and Run's original developer.

The New Radical Games website actually appears to have existed for some time - a post in its 'blog' section is dated April 11, 2025. However, it's only now been picked up by the wider public. It appears to be made up of (or at least led by) a combination of talent from both the original Radical and Hothead Games, the studio that was spun up by several former Radical devs in 2006, but closed its doors in 2024. Projects that both studios worked on in the past are listed in New Radical Games' portfolio, which includes not only Hit and Run but also action game Prototype, mobile sniping game Kill Shot Bravo, and many more.

While Hit and Run's logo and artwork is plastered all over the website, and New Radical says it's open to porting and remastering projects, I wouldn't take this to mean that your chances of getting any kind of re-release or sequel just increased. Sure, Radical was the original developer, but of course it was not the rights holder. In 2021, The Simpsons writer Matt Selman told IGN that he would love to see Hit and Run get remastered, but it's "a complicated corporate octopus to try to make that happen."

Admittedly, the Fortnite crossover potentially means that the complicated octopus has been somewhat untangled, but it's also worth noting that Disney (who owns the rights to The Simpsons IP) and Epic are already super cozy - the former invested $1.5 billion in the latter in 2024.

However, that's not to say that an impassioned pitch from New Radical couldn't land them some form of Simpsons Hit and Run project. The company is being spearheaded by two former employees - Tim Bennison (who also had a stint at Capcom's Vancouver studio) returns as COO, and Ian Wilkinson reprises the CEO role he held at both original Radical and Hothead. It also sounds like there could be more ex-Radical devs on board too. What we do know is that the team that worked on Hit and Run were left disappointed and baffled by publisher Vivendi's decision to not greenlight sequels after being offered a great deal by The Simpson's rights holders, following the success of the game.

"The biggest crime was that Vivendi did not obtain The Simpsons license [even] though they had an offer in," John Melchior, a producer on Hit and Run, told MinnMax in 2023. "The Simpsons came back with an offer - five games for X amount of dollars. It was a really good deal and Vivendi said no… after the success of Hit and Run."

EA then went on to strike a deal that saw it make 2007's The Simpsons Game, which struggled to make the same impact as Hit and Run and is nowhere near as beloved today. Excluding mobile and arcade games, and the Fortnite crossover, that was the last big Simpsons videogame.

Maybe, if it can prove more than 20 years later that it still has the talent and passion to do a remake, remaster, or sequel, then something new could emerge. But that seems like the only route towards Hit and Run getting any kind of official love.

So, while it's easy to get whipped up into an excited frenzy to see the return of Radical, chances are it doesn't also signal a return for The Simpsons Hit and Run.