It's hard to be honest, but almost 10 years have passed since then. south park role playing Broken but wholeAnd 12 years later stick of truth. Two beloved RPGs, both critically acclaimed and both commercially successful, but there has yet to be a third. With success like that, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the natural assumption is not “if,” but “when.” But a perfect storm of business change, bandwidth issues and creative restlessness seemed to undo the obvious. south park Before the RPG trilogy ended.
Despite the third most important global situation: south park RPGs were hard at the time, but Trey Parker and Matt Stone ( south park) actually remains. The nearly $1 billion Paramount+ deal contractually tied them to television obligations, the medium has evolved beneath them, and the duo's aversion to the premise of revisiting old ideas makes it kind of a miracle that fans already have what they do. I don't think it would make me feel any better if I knew that, but south park An RPG-shaped heart hole would make more sense.
Parker and Stone were completely engulfed.
The pillar that connects fans to each other south park But games are not created equal and the first is undoubtedly the greatest. south parkThe creator is buried according to the contract. In 2021, Parker and Stone signed one of the richest contracts in television history, a six-year contract with ViacomCBS worth more than $900 million, which included golden shackles. Deal has been renewed south park It's in production for Comedy Central through its 30th season, and Parker and Stone have committed to producing 14 films worth $250 million per year for Paramount+ before being extended for another five years in 2025.
Who is that character?
Check out the silhouette before time runs out.
start
Check out the silhouette before time runs out.
Easy (7.5 seconds) Medium (5.0 seconds) Hard (2.5 seconds) Eternal Death (2.5 seconds)
This may not be the case in all cases, but in this particular case, more money means more problems. Stone himself has stated that it is their goal to produce two made-for-TV movies per year, with the pair directing and participating in every frame of the film. south park For content that has a very fast production process, this is an understandable goal. south park's current production pipeline leaves precious little runway for an intensely engaging 40-60 hour RPG.
South Park Studios Carousel
Game development presents its own set of serious complexities. Whoever develops next south park The game still remains a big question mark. south park The games players already own all come from different development teams.
- South Park: The Stick of Truth (2014): Developed by a team of approximately 50 people at Obsidian Entertainment
- South Park: Broken but Whole (2017): Developed by Ubisoft San Francisco after Ubisoft purchased the rights from bankrupt THQ in 2013.
- South Park: Snowy Day! (2024): Developed by Question Games
Obsidian has since been acquired by Microsoft and is working on a completely different project. south park It's essentially impossible. Ubisoft San Francisco is specifically structured to emulate: south park's production pipeline allowed Parker and Stone's inevitable last-minute changes to be implemented late in development. But the team and infrastructure don't exist to do the following: south park Which leaves us with the question game, and unfortunately, there are problems in this area as well.
South Park: Phone Destroyer and Snow Day
In context, after Broken but whole, south park Digital Studios greenlighted two experimental titles instead of three. phone destroyer It was a mobile card game. Snow day!It is a live service title inspired by roguelikes set in 2024. Stone explained that idea directly.
“We set off Broken but wholeAnd we definitely wanted to make another video game, but we wanted to do something a little different with the replayability. Learn more about character updates. “We always thought we wanted to do something where you do something on the show and it shows up in the game two weeks later, three weeks later.”
The problem is that mobile titles are not a suitable alternative. snow day’s live service dream never came true. South Park: Snowy Day! It received mixed reviews, with criticism for repetitive gameplay and subdued humor, and after two well-received RPG outings, critics said the game was an incredibly disappointing effort that left behind everything that made its predecessor work.
Mixed signals from South Park's latest video game venture
Neither of these titles were particularly well-received, but they weren't exactly cash grabs either.snow day's $29.99 price point was deliberately chosen to manage risk, and Stone admitted that it only seemed fair when the goal was to “try 3D for the first time, make it work, and make all the systems work without biting too much or failing.” It's reassuring, but equally confusing. It's certainly not the frame of a franchise that swings for the fences every time it goes out.
Can any more South Park RPGs be made?
RPGs are also possible stick of truth or Broken but whole This may not be possible these days. Each of these RPGs took approximately three to four years to create, and each required Parker and Stone's deep involvement, from script writing and design consulting to voicing nearly every character. Ubisoft San Francisco Developer Visit south park Studio twice a month Broken but wholeHowever, the show's tight schedule reduced Parker and Stone's availability as production continued.
That's the kicker. Broken but wholeThe struggle for time was when there was only one season. south park per year. Now Parker and Stone are giving Paramount+ two full-length specials per year in addition to full (admittedly shorter) seasons. everything you draw Snow day! Differently, it's not a creative detour, but an attempt to find a format that requires less of Parker and Stone's time while still remaining fresh.
There remains hope for a South Park RPG.
As depressing as this all may seem, the appetite for an RPG trilogy is definitely out there. snow day's mixed reception largely stems from critics' and fans' reviews of the RPG, which in itself is the clearest sign that demand exists. But appetite alone is not enough to approve a game. south park What an RPG trilogy really needs is a developer with a true RPG pedigree willing to sort out Parker and Stone's mess, and a contract window with enough breathing room for the two to invest their time. None of these conditions are impossible, but none of them are currently met.
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South Park: Snowy Day!
- released
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March 26, 2024
- ESRB
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M For adults 17+ Due to gore, strong language, violence and mature humor
- developer
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question
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South Park: Broken but Whole
8/10
- released
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October 17, 2017
- ESRB
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M Rated for adults 17+ due to blood and gore, mature humor, nudity, sexual content, strong language, drug use and violence
- developer
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Ubisoft San Francisco
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South Park: The Stick of Truth
8/10
- released
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March 4, 2014
- ESRB
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M Mature 17+ Due to blood and gore, drug references, mature humor, nudity, strong language, excessive sexual content and violence.
