There are so many “what if” scenarios in the gaming industry that we simply don’t have the time to go through them all. However, a vast majority of them have to do with questions about certain franchises and what would’ve happened had they been given the love, attention, and sales that they deserved. For Epic Mickey, it had the first two of that trio, but the sales never truly got to where they needed to be. The franchise was the brainchild of Warren Spector, who amazed everyone with the game’s tone via the first piece of concept art. He wanted to take Mickey Mouse back to his more mischievous days and highlight a much darker world featuring Disney creations.
The plot was that Mickey accidentally wrecked a world for “forgotten characters” of Walt Disney, and now, using a special paintbrush, he would go and attempt to fix the damage and defeat the monsters he created. Along the way, he would meet the original creation of Walt Disney, Oswald the Rabbit. The game came out for the Wii and did well enough, but it didn’t set the world on fire. Then, while it did get a sequel, it didn’t do nearly as well as the first, and many thought it was a step down from things.
Fast forward to now, and a remake of the first game is coming to several platforms this year. Many wonder if this could be the “shot in the arm” to get the series a new game. Warren Spector talked about this on his LinkedIn and gave both good news and bad news:
“I’d love to do Epic Mickey 3 but I have a day job that would make that impossible. I actually have a high-level idea for what I’d do in a tri-quel. Don’t worry what I’m working on is pretty darn cool and OtherSide is looking to hire for that project and one other we’re working on.”
He also praised the original team behind the Wii title and the team at Purple Lamp, who are doing the remake/remaster. Spector also confirmed that he did “assist” with the upcoming revamp, so you know that, at the very least, this remaster/remake has his seal of approval.
As for him being “too busy” for a third title, that could all change once the title from OtherSide is released, especially if the upgraded version of his “visionary game” sells very well. In other words, “It could happen…”