If the phenomenon is not really new, it is growing, generation after generation.
Just like the 7th Art, the video game industry is more and more fond of "updates" or the return of franchises that have been left aside for a long time. The release of the eighth generation of consoles (PlayStation 4 / Xbox One) has further accentuated the phenomenon with the explosion of remakes / remasters in order to revive the glories of the past that are deemed incompatible with the demands of an ever younger audience. Available since a little more than a year, the ninth generation of consoles as well as the PC world only accentuate the phenomenon.
One after the other, a few days ago, it was the announcements from Remedy Entertainment and Terrible Toybox that woke up the fans of two emblematic video game franchises. The Finns from Remedy Entertainment have indeed teamed up with Rockstar Games to ensure the return of their most famous character, the depressive DEA investigator, Max Payne. On their side, the guys from Terrible Toybox are in charge of the new adventures of a certain Guybrush Threepwood who takes us back to the early 90's with the releases of The Secret of the Monkey Island (1990) and Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge (1991).
In the first case, it is about offering us remakes. Remedy Entertainment has indeed decided to remake Max Payne (2001) and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003). An agreement has been signed with Rockstar Games, the current rights holder, but there is no question at the moment of looking into the case of the third opus of the franchise, much more recent (2012). It's funny to note, however, that these remakes of the first two Max Payne games come after the launch ofAlan Wake Remastered last year and while Remedy Entertainment is working on Alan Wake II. The remakes of Max Payne I and Max Payne II are still in the conceptualization phase, but the studio has already decided on some technical choices: it's a question of using the Northlight graphics engine already used on Control, Crossfire X and Quantum Break, while the release of the two remakes should take place on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S... at a date still unknown.
For its part, the Terrible Toybox studio is not looking to make something new out of something old, at least not completely. The Return to Monkey Island project is to be seen as the sequel to Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge. Some may object that the franchise has already seen a third installment - and even a fourth - but whether it's The Curse of the Monkey Island (1997) orEscape from Monkey Island (2000), they are not the work of original creator Ron Gilbert. At the head of Terrible Toybox, the man wanted to give his own sequel to his masterpiece. He is working with some of his friends from the Lucasfilm Games days like Dave Grossman for the design and writing, Michael Land, Peter McConnel and Clint Bajakian for the music while Dominic Armato will take over the character of Guybrush Threepwood. We don't know much more about this Return to Monkey Island, but a short teaser has been published by its creators who are working hand in hand with Lucasfilm Games and Devolver Digital and evoke a release "during 2022".
