Bitwave Games issued an apology to Tomomi Sakai, the creator of Gimmick, for not consulting him before revealing the sequel, Gimmick! 2. The sequel was announced by Clear River Games, Sunsoft, and Bitwave Games across multiple platforms at the Limited Run Games Showcase. Sakai expressed online that he had no involvement in the project and was unaware of its development until the formal unveiling.
I've been receiving messages about the sequel to Gimmick!. While I'm honored that the original game continues to inspire, I want to clarify I wasn't involved in developing Gimmick!2. The news of this project was a surprise to me as well. Thank you for your support.
— Tomomi Sakai (@TomomiSakai3) June 21, 2024
Fans were angered by the lack of consultation with the creator before making a sequel, as expressed by YouTuber/streamer Gigaboots.
Infuriated to hear that the original creator of Gimmick! only found out they were making a sequel DURING THE LIMITED RUN GAMES SHOWCASE. It's already insane to make a sequel to Gimmick! of all things, but to do so without any input from the creator? Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/YT2B3tfrp4
— GigaBoots (@GigaBoots) June 21, 2024
Bitwave Games issued an official apology
To clear the air: we owe an apology to Tomomi Sakai. While we licensed the IP for Gimmick!, we failed to connect with its original creator. We deeply respect Tomomi Sakai's work—Gimmick! 2 would not exist without him. In hindsight, we should've done better.
— Bitwave Games heads back to the land of Gimmick! (@bitwavegames) June 24, 2024
Much love. 💚
