The developers ofReturn to Monkey Islandappear to have snuck in a secret cameo, having Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann voice a character.Return to Monkey Island, the new point-and-click adventure game from Lucasfilm Games writer and director Ron Gilbert, is now available. The sequel to the classicMonkey Islandgames is full of jokes and references. Gilbert seems to have also taken the opportunity to pay back Druckmann for an earlier cameo.In 2016, Druckmann confirmed in an interview with VentureBeat that he had personally asked one of Naughty Dog’s concept artists to help put anEaster egg intoUncharted 4. The Easter egg in question was a reference toThe Secret of Monkey Island, which Gilbert directed and helped write. The Easter egg was a painting of a young pirate captain being labeled as “Guy” that was associated with a monkey sigil, a reference toMonkey Island’s Guybrush Threepwood. Nathan Drake even makes a joke about a “second-biggest cistern,” a joke that was also inThe Secret of Monkey Island.RELATED:Return to Monkey Island Creator Shuts Down Blog After Personal AttacksThe love that Druckmann andNaughty Dogshared forMonkey Islandclearly stuck with Gilbert, as it’s now been confirmed that Druckmann himself has a cameo in the new game. A tweet from Duckmann linked a picture of a character inReturn to Monkey Islandthat looks like it could be Druckmann. Then, inReturn to Monkey Island’s credits, it’s confirmed Duckmann did voice acting for the game. It seems Druckmann will live forever as aReturn to MonkeyIsland pirate.
Druckmann says of the cameo that he, “Still can’t believe it!” and shared his eternal gratitude toRon Gilbertand others involved with the development ofReturn to Monkey Island. This isn’t the first time Druckmann has mentionedReturn to Monkey Island. He’s highly recommended the game since its release and has been excited about it on social media for some time.
There’s nothing to read into the situation here. It’s just a fun example of game developers that have an appreciation for each others' work coming together to make something fun happen. Druckmann made sure thatMonkey Islandwas represented inUncharted 4’s pirate storyand Gilbert returned the favor by making Druckmann a pirate in the new game.
Game development is such a complex process that these kinds of friendly cameos and Easter eggs are difficult to manage.Uncharted 4couldn’t directly referenceMonkey Islanddue to potential legal issues, so the team must have worked hard not to cross any boundaries. And getting Druckmann to take the time to do some voice work had to be a scheduling nightmare. But now fans of bothUnchartedandMonkey Islandhave something special to smile at as they play through each game.
Return to Monkey Islandis available now on PC and Switch.
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