Ron Gilbert, creator of the original Monkey Island games, has said that he is working on a new game for the franchise. But he may have been joking.

A post on April Fools’ Day is normally a joke. Ron Gilbert’s new post may seem like a joke at first, but he’s never been one for April Fools’ Day jokes. Back in 2021, he explained that his Grumpy Gamer blog “has been and always will be April Fools’ Day free” for 17 years. So his recent announcement that his next project is a new Monkey Island game seems quite confusing.

Gilbert is a living legend of adventure games for his fans. He is associated with iconic titles, such as Maniac Mansion, the first two Monkey Island games, The Cave and Thimbleweed Park. After a recent post on his blog telling readers that he is working on a new Monkey Island game, fans are wondering if this is a just an April Fools prank, or we can actually expect a sequel.

The Grumpy Gamer’s blog post is adamant that he refuses to celebrate April Fools’ Day:

“For 18 years the Grumpy Gamer blog has been April Fools’ Day free because it’s a stupid tradition. So to mix things up a little I’m taking this opportunity to announce I’ve decided to make another Monkey Island.”

The post seems clear, but we can’t be sure if Ron Gilbert is actually working on a new Monkey Island game. The studio’s job postings suggest that the company is working on another point and click adventure game. Thus, there is no obvious evidence to suggest that the unknown project could not be a new Monkey Island game.

Besides that, Gilbert recently signed over 7,000 Arr!thenticity certificates for the release of Monkey Island Anthology Limited Run Games, a partnership with Disney. The licensing of the game is also an interesting question. The Monkey Island games were published by LucasArts, which was acquired by Disney when they bought Lucasfilm in 2012. In 2016 Gilbert asked for the rights back, then said that it was important for him to

“make the game I want to make.”

Is it possible that a deal has been struck between Disney and Gilbert since then, and fans can look forward to a new instalment?

Source: Game Rant