Simpsons Creator Matt Groening Appears to Accidentally Confirm Hit & Run Is Coming Back
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening appears to have let slip that The Simpsons: Hit & Run — the beloved 2003 game that let players tear around Springfield in a cartoonish nod to Grand Theft Auto — is coming back.
Speaking at a Simpsons panel during Disney's D23 convention in Anaheim, California on 15 August 2026, Groening was asked by an audience member whether a second Hit & Run game might happen, given that a second Simpsons Movie is in the works. His reply caught the room off guard. "I don't know if I'm speaking out of turn," Groening said, "[but] I think the original game is coming back in some form." The audience gasped. VGC
Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman, who co-wrote the original Hit & Run and its 2001 predecessor The Simpsons: Road Rage (a Crazy Taxi-style driving game), jumped in with a comedic "Or… not," seemingly trying to walk back the moment. When the topic of a full sequel came up, Selman was warmer: a second Hit & Run, he said, "would certainly be a treat." Nintendo Life corroborated Groening's comments in its own August 2026 reporting.
As of that reporting, no remaster or remake of Hit & Run has been officially announced, according to IGN. What form a return might take — a remaster, a remake, a re-release — remains unconfirmed.
For fans, even an accidental confirmation is a lot. Hit & Run arrived in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox, and built a cult following that has only grown in the two decades since. After its release, Electronic Arts acquired the Simpsons game licence and put out a single console title, The Simpsons Game, in 2007. No standalone Simpsons console game has shipped since, though the family has turned up in crossover titles like Lego Dimensions and Fortnite.
There was nearly more. In a 2023 interview, Hit & Run producer John Melchior revealed that two additional Simpsons games were in development, including a Hit & Run sequel. The sequel would have been built by Radical Entertainment, the Vancouver studio behind the original. A separate medieval-themed Simpsons game, pitched by Groening himself, was in the works at Stormfront Studios. Neither shipped: publisher Vivendi Universal Games, which held the option to sign a deal for five Simpsons games, declined. Radical Entertainment later closed under Activision.
There is a new thread to pull. Radical Entertainment resurfaced in February 2026 under the name New Radical Games, as reported by VGC. Whether the revived studio has any hand in a Hit & Run return is unknown.
What is known is that Groening said something he may not have meant to, and a room full of Simpsons fans reacted before anyone could change the subject. Until an official announcement arrives, that gasp is the story.
