Earthworm Jim 4 was announced in 2008 by Interplay Entertainment. At that time, the game was referred to as “still in development.” Our team at TopTierList has stumbled upon unfortunate news coming from a leaker who says that the game is no longer in development as it has been canceled quietly.
After waiting for way over a decade, the game has been shrugged under the carpet. Though it may make some fans quite mad, we believe the studio had its reasons for this. Considering there were scarcely any updates after the announcement, they thought it best to keep it quiet as no one would remember the game.
Nevertheless, Earthworm Jim is a classic game, and while it wouldn’t compare to some other older titles, the first game did pretty well. As more installments were released in the series, the game lost its touch for various reasons. Even then, some people looked forward to Earthworm Jim 4, but the series might as well have ended a decade ago.
Earthworm Jim 4 is confirmed to be dead, and I now just realized that the tweet flairs are gone pic.twitter.com/Fh02byU1qA
— OutofcontextEarthwormJim (@EWJNoContext) February 8, 2023
Major Points
- Earthworm Jim 4 has allegedly been quietly canceled.
- Considering the studio has made little to no update after announcing it over a decade ago, the possibility of this rumor being true is high.
- The cancelation is likely due to licensing issues or problems with developing the Amico console.
As we discussed, Earthworm Jim 4 was announced long ago, and even though the development status was still told as ongoing in 2011, the studio made little to no updates for many years. Finally, in May 2019, the game was announced as being developed for the upcoming Intellivision Amico console.
The Amico console itself is having issues with the release dates and has seen many delays and met heavy criticism. The story of Amico is quite long, but here’s a rough summary; Ars Technica’s Sam Machkovech found many issues with the Amico and revealed them to the public. After realizing the console was nowhere near the competition in the market, the development likely went stale. Eventually, the trademark was abandoned, and only recently, a new trademark was filed, hinting at the re-development of the console from scratch since the market is much different than it was a few years ago.
Twitter user OutofcontextEarthwormJim tweeted an image of someone from Discord quoting another comment, saying, “EWJ 4 was quietly dusted under the carpet, and they hoped nobody would notice. When you’ve been waiting 25 years for something to happen, you notice lol.”
It continues, “So either they didn’t have the license to do it, and Interplay [Entertainment] slapped them on the wrist (worst case scenario), or everything went pear-shaped with the Amico, and they decided to call it quits. I don’t have the answers, i’m in the dark with everyone else.”
Earthworm Jim 4 likely went through development hell and got the worst treatment. After being in development for well over a year and seeing those kinds of issues, the developers thought it best to scrap the project altogether quietly.
Even though the sources of this leak are unverified, the silent treatment from the studio points towards its possibility; nevertheless, it is best to take it with a grain of salt until they announce it themselves. Though it is unlikely they will, considering it is a quiet cancelation.
Earthworm Jim.In addition to the game, a user asked under the tweet whether the Earthworm Jim TV Series also got the same treatment, but OutofcontextEarthwormJim replied with, “Not yet.” Aside from the Tv Series, we had some hints at what the possible premise of this game could have been.
According to Shiny Entertainment Founder David Perry, “The thing we had talked about in the past is Jim had been in retirement…So, he’s been sitting at home watching movies and eating popcorn. He’s grossly overweight now. The plan was to start with him literally getting off the sofa, and it’s a disaster because he just hasn’t done anything since. But he’s got to get back into action again.”
He also believed that Earthworm Jim 4 was a question of “when” and not “if.” Over time, we have had indications of its cancelation, but this seems like the final draw, and we will never hear about it again. Even at that time, development was a challenge.
According to original Earthworm Jim lead artist Nick Bruty, “Oh man. A new EWJ game with the original team almost happened about 5 years ago but a deal with the IP owners couldn’t get worked out. I think everyone would be up for it sometime. Feels like unfinished business but hard to align everyone. I wouldn’t do it without the key players.”
The water is under the bridge, and there is barely anything we can do about it. If you love Earthworm Jim, perhaps the only thing that can bring peace of mind is the rumored TV Series. But do you think there is any possibility of this project being developed in the later future? Share your thoughts with us below, and we will get back to you!
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