Ron Gilbert wants Disney to call him about the future of Monkey Island

Pixel Boost - Monkey Island - 35

The Secret of Monkey Island released 25 years ago this month. A lot has happened since then: the internet now rules the world, you can send text messages to your fridge, and I've eaten more than 100 bacon and egg rolls. Ron Gilbert has commemorated the game's release over on his Grumpy Gamer blog (check out that beautiful Commodore 64 theme!) and while the whole thing is definitely worth a read, there was one quote that stands out from the rest.

The quote concerns a possible future for the Monkey Island games. Gilbert doesn't own the rights to the Monkey Island IP – that ball is in Disney's court – but that doesn't mean he hasn't taken steps to be involved in the series' future.

"I don’t know if I will ever get to make another Monkey Island," Gilbert writes. "I always envisioned the game as a trilogy and I really hope I do, but I don’t know if it will ever happen. Monkey Island is now owned by Disney and they haven't shown any desire to sell me the IP. I don’t know if I could make Monkey Island 3a without complete control over what I was making and the only way to do that is to own it. Disney: Call me."

While we reported back in 2012 that Gilbert intended to contact Disney about Monkey Island, it looks like he has now, but with negative results. Whether there's a future for the series or not, you should definitely go and read Gilbert's whole blogpost, because in addition to some interesting insights into the game's development, there are some really beautiful fan letters.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.