Designer and creator of ToeJam & Earl, Greg Johnson, has confirmed a new ToeJam & Earl game is “in the planning stage”.
In an AMA to promote the Kickstarter for his new game, Dancing with Ghosts, Johnson also talked openly about his time developing Starflight and ToeJam & Earl, and teased that he was planning a fifth TJ&E game, too.
Asked to comment on recent “whispers” that a new ToeJam & Earl game was on the way, Johnson replied: “I can say that the new game is in the planning stage. We intend to make it happen.
“It’s going to be developed by a third party, design led by the infamous and talented producer of [ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove], Nap [Anthony Napolitano], and will be a combo of games one and two and incorporate some of the design ideas of the original game 2 that never got made,” he added (thanks, VGC).
Throughout the AMA, Johnson offered plenty of insights into the original development process, too, saying “TJ&E was just cutting loose” after developing Starflight 1 and 2.
“I wasn’t trying to make something that the market would want or that would sell. [Development partner] Mark was so cool. He let me run with whatever I wanted. Super supportive.
“We actually had two great producers. Matt Conn was the original producer, and the game never would have been released if it weren’t for him, too. Matt and Nap are both TJ&E superstars.”
Matt Conn founded GaymerX (formerly known as GaymerCon) and MidBoss, but stood down as CEO in 2018 following allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, and underpaying staff. It’s thought Napolitano alone will assume the producer’s role for this title.
ToeJam and Earl earned themselves a cult following back in the early ’90s as two aliens with a love of funk music who crash-landed on Earth. The new Amazon movie based on the series, announced in late 2022, was also discussed, and though Johnson admitted much is “out of [his] control”, he confirmed he’s read the script and expects it will be animated, but it “could be a mix like Sonic, as it’s primarily on Earth”.