When it comes to South Park, no one and no organization is safe from the vicious parodies the franchise creates. Not only do the movies and the shows do so, but the video games poke a lot of fun at pop culture too. South Park: The Stick of Truth, for example, may have been a more classic, Dungeons and Dragons-style LARP-based RPG, but it didn’t back down from abortion, drug addiction, sex, violence, poverty, and many, many more social issues.
At the same time, South Park: The Fractured But Whole took its comedic approach to each of these things as well, but at the same time, it was poking fun at the emphasis on superhero franchises, seen in Marvel and DC, too. Overall, these games really bring South Park to life, and the confirmation that a new South Park game is in development is exciting news for fans. However, what it should take aim at this time around is the games industry itself.
A South Park Game About Games
There are plenty of elements related to the games industry that would be perfect for the new South Park game to parody, and it’s not like there isn’t a whole lot in the show related to games either. Stan and Kyle’s Guitar Hero episode is just one of many things that could be built for the game to tackle, but just as South Park: The Fractured But Whole focused on the movie industry’s trend of growing cinematic universes, it could focus on any number of gaming trends—probably multiple at the same time.
For example, from Returnal to Deathloop and many more in-between, time loop games have been all the rage here lately. South Park could be a time loop game, as time travel is no stranger to the franchise, and they are trying to destroy the time loop by finding and destroying a time loop game--itself. Roguelike elements are also increasingly popular, and working that in with a time loop element would go hand in hand.
At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the recent release of Elden Ring and gaming’s growing obsession with Souls games. To throw in bosses that are hard, to use the famous “You Died” phrase, and to mock a lot of discourse of these titles would go right in. Perhaps it was more limited to one boss where, to actually beat him, players have to die to it quite a few times—just for the laughs in South Park’s gameplay.
It could go even further than that, as more and more live-service games are releasing too. Adding an in-game shop—that’s not live-service but an actual in-game shop with items bought by earnable currency—could name items things that just fire off at Live-Service games. Perhaps Cartman could even gently berate the player when they are shopping.
At the end of the day, there are so many things in the games industry that could fit itself into a South Park game that was self-aware and mocking games. This “metagame” component would really make the next South Park game, whenever it releases, stand out.
A New South Park game is in development.