Fan developer of The Simpsons Hit and Run full remake shares if game will ever be released to the public

A full fan remake of The Simpsons: Hit and Run will not be released to players. Developer Reuben Ward, otherwise known as Reubs, has doubled down on his stance that his remake will never be released to the public.

Ward remade Radical Entertainment’s 2003 action-adventure from scratch, releasing his final YouTube video on how he has completed the game titled “THE FINALE”. The video showed off the significant improvements from the original game to the Unreal Engine 5 recreations.

The developer figured out how the original Grand Theft Auto 3-inspired game was coded and remade using the Unreal Engine 5, with many fans desperate to get their hands on the game. The Simpsons: Hit and Run remake has been a labour of love for the developer, but he will not be releasing the game to the public, despite public outcry from fans.

In his latest video, Ward announced that the game was officially complete after spending the last year working on the project. Reubs initially pulled an earlier version of the game offline, after releasing it to the public, to prevent any potential legal issues with The Simpson’s owners Disney.

The previously released early version of the game gained praise from the original game’s lead designer Joe McGinn who said at the time: “Amazing what you accomplished! Really gives a taste of what a full modern remaster could be. Impressive work!”

Ward had made some eye-catching changes, including remaking the Simpson’s family car to make it fit better with the game’s art style. There was also an obvious improvement on the 20-year-old graphics and the creation of an explorable open-world.

Despite huge demand from fans, Reubs has said a public release will never happen, adding a disclaimer to a video back in 2022 where he said: “This is a fan remake for entertainment purposes, this game will never be available to download. Please do not pester my poor Discord mods for a download link!”

Since its original release 20 years ago, The Simpsons: Hit and Run has garnered a cult following with many calls for a remake to be released. In 2021, The Simpsons writer Matt Selman told IGN, that it would be “a complicated corporate octopus to try to make that happen.”

The games developer Radical Entertainment, is now owned by Activision and is working on supporting the studios with other titles, so it seems unlikely the team will be picking up a remake. Reubs has since teased that he will be beginning a new remake as he looks at Mindscape’s 1997 Lego-themed open world game Lego Island.