Ron Gilbert, creator of The Secret of Monkey Island, really wants to make another Monkey Island game. He's pursued the cause quite publicly, writing last year that he'd reached out to rights holders Disney. Despite Gilbert always envisioning the The Secret of Monkey Island as a trilogy, Disney nevertheless displayed no desire to part with the property – though they've licensed it out in the past, most notably to Telltale Games.
The thing is, Disney announced earlier this month that it was pulling out of games development and publishing altogether. That move caused a fuss among Disney Infinity fans, but questions have also been raised about the other dormant properties belonging to the company. Among these, of course, is both Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion.
Dear @Disney," Gilbert tweeted today. "Now that you're not making games, please sell me my Monkey Island and Mansion Mansion [sic] IP. I'll pay real actual money for them."
Gilbert went on to say, in a Twitter exchange, that "money isn't the issue" when it was suggested that he band together with Tim Schafer to crowdfund the endeavour via Fig. The ball is quite unambiguously in Disney's court, and at this stage it just seems cruel to not let Gilbert make another damned monkey game. The world would be a better place.
Purchasing the IP back from Disney would give Gilbert the creative control he needs to make another Monkey Island game. "I don’t know if I could make Monkey Island 3 without complete control over what I was making and the only way to do that is to own it. Disney: Call me," he wrote last year.
