Licensed movie/TV video games don’t have the best reputation. After decades of misses, gamers expect the worst when their favourite TV show or film receives a console conversion. Few have hit the mark – but those that did are among some of the most beloved video games ever. The Simpsons: Hit & Run, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, GoldenEye 007, for example. And for many South Park fans, you can include 2014’s The Stick of Truth and 2017’s The Fractured but Whole in that list. Now, a new South Park game is coming and we can’t wait to see if it’s as good as the last two.
News broke last week that Trey Parker and Matt Stone – creators of South Park – have signed a new deal with ViacomCBS. It’s worth $900 million. This agreement will see South Park extended to run through season 30. And 14 (yes – f-o-u-r-t-e-e-n) movies will be made for Paramount+. The icing on the cake for fans was confirmation that another video game is in development. The previous South Park games were a sweet, sweet blend of time-tested RPG mechanics, fun turn-based combat, and the series’ trademark comedic elements. But what exactly do Matt and Trey have in store for us in the next game? Remember – we’ll be updating this article as new info is released, so keep your eyes peeled!
When is the new South Park game coming out?
First off, it’s unclear when the new South Park game will be released. The mega-deal with ViacomCBS includes the game and multiple new seasons of the show. Running up to season 30 will take the show to 2027. So it’s reasonable to expect the next South Park game will be released during this timeframe. A realistic guess would be late 2022 at the earliest and 2024 at the latest.
Will the new South Park game be an RPG?
The previous two South Park games were RPGs. And fans lapped those mechanics up. In fact, it was probably the best thing about those games. Few would expect South Park and role-playing to go together. But the ability to build and develop your own character while surrounded by fan-favourites like Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny was a blast. Will the next game take a similar path? Or will it try something new? We don’t know just yet – but why take the risk when there’s already a winning formula?
Who will be making it?
Ubisoft published the 2014 and 2017 games. Obsidian Entertainment developed South Park: The Stick of Truth, while The Fractured but Whole was made by Ubisoft San Francisco. Given the most recent title was developed by an internal Ubisoft team, it stands to reason the same approach will be taken with the new game. Expect more details about the game’s development to arrive in the next year or so.
New South Park game trailer
We know next to nothing about this game, other than it’s being made. We don’t know what it’s about or what its gameplay will be like. Of course, a trailer will likely fill in the blanks. But it doesn’t exist yet, and it won’t do for a while. We’ll share it here once it’s available, though.
Are The Stick of Truth and The Fractured but Whole good?
With all this talk about the new South Park game, you’re probably wondering “are the South Park games good?”. Logic suggests if the old ones were solid, the next one should follow suit. Well, we can only speak from our own experience. But we loved them. Both were stellar (if simplistic) RPGs that made us laugh along the way. If you’re fan of the series’ humour, you can’t go wrong with them. And there were plenty of references to other popular video games thrown in for good measure.
Sure, the combat wasn’t hugely challenging. And turn-based combat isn’t for everyone. However, critics were fairly unanimous in their praise and mostly felt both titles were great. If you haven’t already checked them out, we definitely recommend them both. It’s safe to say we’re counting the days till the next one!
Are you excited for the new South Park game? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…
