Four Official Smurfs Games are Coming in the Next Five Years

The Smurfs are back, and not in Overwatch. French publisher Microids has announced a new deal to produce four Smurf games.

Announced on Twitter, Microids will produce a total of four video games based around the classic animated show, The Smurfs. The publisher already has a working history with IMPS (who own the Smurfs brand). Originally, they were set to develop one Smurfs game. This recent announcement reveals the title and launch window of that, while also announcing plans for three more afterwards.

The first of those games will be Smurfs: Mission Vileaf, set to release on PC and consoles before the end of 2021. While nothing is known about the game at this time, the announcement Tweet did include a painterly graphic, showing three Smurfs heading toward an ominous tree home.

The remaining three games are complete mysteries. We dont know the names, genres, style, or anything. In a statement by Gamesindustry.biz, Stéphane Longeard, Microids' CEO, claims it will be a diverse selection.

Working on such a rich franchise that speaks to all generations allows us to create a wide variety of different games: there will be something to suit all tastes.

Were of two minds about this. While the Smurfs did have a revival of sorts with that 2011 live action movie, the brand isnt exactly trending anymore. Originally from the 1980s, its one of the oldest animated brands still around today. Do we really need to keep reviving old franchises? Let some things be. Yet again, theres word of a 2021 animated TV series revival of the Smurfs as well. Its very likely that IMPS is looking for a multimedia revival of the Smurfs name, and were just seeing the initial spark of that revival. Whether it sticks around will depend on how successful this campaign is. Time will tell.