Hothead, Ron Gilbert Announce Episodic Adventure-RPG DeathSpank

Canada's Hothead Games (Penny Arcade Adventures) has announced that LucasArts vet Ron Gilbert has officially joined the company as its creative director, where he will create DeathSpank, his latest game described as Monkey Island meets Diablo. Gilbert has previously worked with Hothead as a consultant on its forthcoming Penny Arcade Adventures. The developer says the new game "follows the thong-tastic adventures of a misguided hero named DeathSpank, a character that first appeared on Gilbert's Grumpy Gamer website in a series of animated comics he penned with long-time creative collaborator, Clayton Kauzlaric." In a related blog post announcing the game, Gilbert says the title has had a somewhat difficult journey to the present. "I roughed out a game design for the first episode and started pitching it around and a funny thing happened," said Gilbert. "Everyone hated it." "But the weird thing is the more publishers that turned it down, the more convinced I became that this was a great idea. Every rejection fueled me with excitement and the knowledge that I was right. Nothing says innovation and creativity like armed security showing up to escort you out of the building while saying 'Let's not have any trouble,'" he continued. Gilbert will now be headquartered in Hothead's Vancouver studios (where "he is also expected to improve his hockey skills") as creative director. Said Hothead COO Joel DeYoung, "We're all huge fans of Monkey Island and we love Ron's unique vision and sense of humor. Ron shares Hothead's goal of bringing much-needed humor and innovation into games, so having him here in Vancouver as our Creative Director is an excellent fit."