Return to Monkey Island announced via anti-April Fools joke
The latest Monkey Island instalment isn't a myth, and it's coming in 2022.
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April Fools seems to be a prime opportunity for silly pranks and mischievous behaviour. I’ve never been a fan of it myself, and neither has Ron Gilbert. So, when the Monkey Island co-creater craftily announced that he might be working on a new Monkey Island game via his blog, Grumpy Gamer, on April 1, 2022, fans flocked to forums to share their confusion.
Gilbert had sworn off April Fools for 18 years, making the blog April Fools free because “it’s a stupid tradition.” Well said. However, immediately after, Gilbert stated “So, to mix things up a little I’m taking this opportunity to announce I’ve decided to make another Monkey Island.” This really threw a spanner in the works for readers, but we can't say he didn't warn us, because he did... all the way back in 2013.
With the news coming on April Fools, of all days, not everyone (including myself) was convinced that this was a genuine announcement. As one of the many commenters noted, this was some "LeChuck level evil". However, despite the post being titled ‘April Fools 2022’, Gilbert wasn’t joking. The only joke he made was out of April Fools' Day itself.
The official announcement for Return to Monkey Island game came just a few days later. While the teaser trailer doesn’t show much in terms of gameplay, we can safely assume that Melee Island and villain LeChuck of the original game are back, and we can expect to see them some time in 2022.
To add, Michael Land, Clint Bajakian, and Peter McConnel are back to create the game's score, with Dominic Armato also returning to voice Guybrush Threepwood once more. With updated graphics, traditional Monkey Island gameplay, and a lot of the original crew on board, Return to Monkey Island has certainly got a lot of fans eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Return to Monkey Island is being developed by Terrible Toybox, and published by Lucasfilm Games and Devolver Digital. The new title is set to pick up from where Monkey Island 2 left off, and will be arriving in 2022.
Are you excited to see the latest instalment for the point-and-click pioneer?