Earthworm Jim, MDK and co. to return

By Robert Purchese Published 9 April, 2008

Interplay confirms first targets.

Interplay has confirmed that Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK are targets for future sequels.

Word comes by way of its financial 2007 results, which saw the sale of the Fallout IP account for USD 5.75 million of the total USD 5.86 income.

Interplay is also working on a Fallout MMOG as a licensee of the property, but is still trying to secure funding to make it.

This, along with its catalogue of old games, will apparently spell success.

"Going forward, we have the vision, unique intellectual property, and low debt and operational costs to help us pursue financing for our various projects," said Interplay boss Herve Caen.

"Our new website will streamline our ability to communicate development progress with the public, share brand information with the fans and support our customers."

There is still no change on the Interplay website, which had a place-holder image put up in early March to pave the way for the redesign.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • HarryPalmer #1 4 years ago

    MDK was mental! in a very good way

  • Machetazo #2 4 years ago

    Please get right on Descent asap, chaps.

  • bad09 #3 4 years ago

    Earthworm Jim? that just made my day!

  • Dizzy #4 4 years ago

    Descent yes. The rest no.

  • mazzl #5 4 years ago

    MDK OW YEAH!

  • aldo_14 #6 4 years ago

    Freespace?

  • McBradders #7 4 years ago

    Earthworm Jim! :o

    Get Tennapel to work on it otherwise it will be rubbish :(

  • Xerx3s #8 4 years ago

    My all-time fav publisher returns! \0/

  • X201 #9 4 years ago

    Groovy!

  • Ciaran #10 4 years ago

    MDK! \o/

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #11 4 years ago

    MDK was awesome. Is it still touted as being the first game to have a sniper rifle? Never knew if that was true or not...

    Even if it wasn't the game was still awesome, and its sequel only fractionally less so.

  • Brogan #12 4 years ago

    "Going forward" god i hate that term

  • Darkedge #13 4 years ago

    Descent and MDK ftw!
    But as with the Fallout MMO i'll bide my time before I believe they will actually happen - they announced they were going to develop a Fallout MMO as soon as they had the funding for it when they announced that Bethesda were doing Fallout 3, and they still don't have the funding obviously...

  • asphaltcowboy #14 4 years ago

    Meteorite Destroys Kentucky?

  • penhalion #15 4 years ago

    :) I totally called the MDK thing when they announced the revival of interplay

    MDK stood for Murder Death Kill, which is much funnier than other acronyms people tried to come up with for it. It summed up the game nicely.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/08 @ 12:41

  • speedjack #16 4 years ago

    MDK - wow.

  • penhalion #17 4 years ago

    Who can tell me what game this line comes from

    Hero after killing first guy : Your Momma
    Hero after killing second guy : Your Momma's Momma
    Hero after killing third guy : Your Momma's Momma's Momma
    Hero after killing fourth guy : Your Momma's Momma's Momma's Momma
    Hero after killing fifth guy : Your Momma's Momma's Momma's Momma's Momma
    Hero lands on floor : Wexellent!

    Edit: The Wexellent isn't a typo.

    Bet no-one knows the answer either :)
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/08 @ 12:46

  • TONYgr #18 4 years ago

    MURDER DEATH KILL!!!!I CANT WAIT!!!

  • penhalion #19 4 years ago

    @Dream

    :) Yep. Loved the bad guys holding bulls eyes over their faces in sniper mode. Kind of daring you to shoot them in the head and then being suprised when you actually did.

  • coach_mcguirk #20 4 years ago

    Planet Moon for the MDK sequel, plz.

    Oh, and (I'm going to get mullered for this) - I think a Descent game could be lovely on Wii.

  • neilka #21 4 years ago

    Jim and Kurt at the Olympic Games CONFIRMED

  • Quint2020 #22 4 years ago

    Loool.

    I officially love you penhalion, Wild 9 was awesome.

  • Gurgeh #23 4 years ago

    The real story is somewhat different:

    [link url=http://www.sec.gov/Arc hives/edgar/data/1057232/000117091808000174/0001170918-08-00 0174.txt
    ]http://ww w.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1...[/link]

    "As of December 31, 2007, we had 4 employees, including 1 in software engineering, and 3 in finance, general and administrative.

    WE CURRENTLY HAVE SOME OBLIGATIONS THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO MEET WITHOUT GENERATING ADDITIONAL INCOME OR RAISING ADDITIONAL CAPITAL. IF WE CANNOT GENERATE ADDITIONAL INCOME OR RAISE ADDITIONAL CAPITAL IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WE MAY BECOME INSOLVENT AND/OR BE MADE BANKRUPT AND/OR MAY BECOME ILLIQUID OR WORTHLESS.

    As of December 31, 2007, our cash balance was approximately $1.1 million and our working capital deficit totaled approximately $2.3 million. We have some significant creditors that comprise a substantial proportion of outstanding obligations that we might not be able to satisfy. There is a balance owing to Atari Interactive, Inc. ("Atari";) of approximately $1 million, and we may be unable to satisfy this debt which became due on March 31, 2008. We are in dispute with Atari and believe we may have various claims that may offset some
    or all of this balance.

    We are planning to exploit our license back of "Fallout" MMOG and are reviewing the avenues for securing financing of at least $30 million to fund its production but no assurance can be made that we will be able to do so, and our license back may as a result be terminated."

  • DDevil #24 4 years ago

    @ penhalion: The game was Wild 9 :-)

  • Slamhound #25 4 years ago

    Now hold on here...

    Dark Alliance - DA2 was junk compared to the first, which wasn't even worthy of wearing the Baldur's Gate name.
    MDK - MDK2 nowhere near as good as the first, pure slapstick compared to the fairly subtle humour of the first.
    EWJ - EWJ1 rocked, EWJ2 moreso, EWJ3D can fall in a salt pit and die.
    Descent - 3 was the worst of the bunch.

    Is more sequels what we really want?

  • Pedrolot #26 4 years ago

    Earthworm Jim!!! \o/

  • Xerx3s #27 4 years ago

    "Is more sequels what we really want?"

    Yes. Also, interplay has a lot more going than just those franchises.

  • Lexx87 #28 4 years ago

    MDK and Earthworm Jim yes yes yes yes yeeeees!!! That Earthworm Jim game was fucking hard if I rememeber though.

  • CARL05 #29 4 years ago

    Hoorah! A remake of Earthworm Jim, been waiting for that on XBLA for ages!
    I hope it gets released on there and not just handhelds!

    I'm guessing that it won't be a full game release, in fact I hope its not, it'll suck if its given the Worms 3D treatment, even tho Worms is always awesome!

  • gelf #30 4 years ago

    MDK! I loved that game and to a lesser extent the sequel.

    If this true I just hope its mainly Kurt levels again this time.

  • bioreit #31 4 years ago

    Yay for MDK - still play that once in a while.

    As long as by 'Descent', Interplay also include Freespace, I'll quite possibly actually faint from excitement. Freespace 2 was the last great space sim and is in dire need of resurrection - no sequel required, just package the two games up into XBLA titles.

    Project Sylpheed almost had the control system right, showing that FS1 and FS2 can indeed be controlled perfectly with a 360 pad.

    Re-releasing MDK on XBLA and PSN would also be good. Cheap and relatively easy to do and should earn them enough cash to fund new projects.

  • JonFE #32 4 years ago

    I'd pay good MS points for some MDK action (preferably the original one :).

  • skx #33 4 years ago

    The first MDK was a so awesome and unique experience. It really is like no other. (even as the 2nd one!)

    A mixture of a psychedelic graphic style with awesome weapons + sounds and some crazy styles of moving/camera work. Excellent!

  • DarthInsinuate #34 4 years ago

    I just want an Earthworm Jim sequel because it raises the chance they'll release DVDs of the cartoon.

  • Hughes. #35 4 years ago

    MDK was great, I didn't get on so well with the sequel. I could stand more of it though. Earthworm Jim really needs to die, it was one decent game that has been remade to death, and it feels older and more irrelevant with each new reprise.

    I still remeber the "What are worms?" spiel at the end of the MegaCD Special Edition when you completed it on hard (although you could just cheat and play the track off the CD)

  • rodpad #36 4 years ago

    Descent 2 was all kinds of awesome.

  • Laika #37 4 years ago

    I sense some four-limbed gattling gun and atomic toaster action on the horizon.

  • monkie_king #38 4 years ago

    Oooh, I love me some MDK. There was more inventiveness packed into that game than pretty much any of its contemporaries, aside from maybe Mario64. World's Most Interesting Bomb!

    It was also one of those games that is pure videogame, knows it is, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. Abstract and joyous.

    I guess the chances of Planet Moon doing the new sequel are pretty slim, though. And MDK2 wasn't a patch on the original.

    BriteSparc, it was definitely the first zoomable sniper rifle, beating GoldenEye to it.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/08 @ 16:34

  • Royal Fool #39 4 years ago

    I think people are getting a bit too excited here. The chances of Herve getting Interplay back on track are astronomically low.

    Although I suppose you should never underestimate the stupidity of venture capitalists...

  • YourMessageHere #40 4 years ago

    MDK was awesome, but MDK2 never really worked for me.

    I remember Descent fondly; I played that in the days before mouselook, and I always wondered how it would be with a mouse.

    EDIT: Lol @ Interplay is 4 people.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/08 @ 18:10

  • db3 #41 4 years ago

    MDK was pure class, as were the first couple of Descents...although not quite Forsaken.

  • NthSimulachum #42 4 years ago

    The World's Most Interesting Bomb!

    I hope the Huge City Minecrawlers will be romping over to Livingston, Sparrow Pit, and Kirkcaldy!

  • Pulsar_t #43 4 years ago

    Why was EWJ for the PSP cancelled does anyone know?

  • smelly #44 4 years ago

    YAY!!! Earthworm Jim!

    *wanks*

  • smelly #45 4 years ago

    "I'm guessing that it won't be a full game release, in fact I hope its not, it'll suck if its given the Worms 3D treatment, even tho Worms is always awesome!"



    Eh?

    Whats the connection between Earthworm jim and worms??

    Apart from the fact they're both worms? They're completely different games!

  • FooAtari #46 4 years ago

    MDK and Descent, awesome. Please get it right...

  • Mr_Bogus #47 4 years ago

    ALERT.




    ALERT.




    ALERT.

  • subtlesnake #48 4 years ago

    I didn't play the original MDK, but I absolutely loved the sequel.

  • Triggerhappytel #49 4 years ago

    I'm assuming Earthworm Jim isn't on XBLA, PSN or VC, so they could stick it on there and have a decent number of sales. It's still a great game; I played it a few years ago.

  • japstersam #50 4 years ago

    i wish someone, somewhere would remake Toejam & Earl

  • CARL05 #51 4 years ago

    @ smelly

    The reason why I mentioned a connection between Worms and Earthworm Jim was mearly that they are both 2D cartoon shooters, not because they are both worms!

    Worms has been updated to 3D where Earthworm Jim hasn't yet and i'm not sure wether it could stand up to the change without totally sucking!

  • Verwandlung #52 3 years ago

    ^updated to 3d lol

  • liambhoy #53 3 years ago

    is fallout 3 a good game so iknow to buy it it looks a bit like bioshock without the creatures