[4][5] Interplay also announced that original Earthworm Jim creator and voice actor Doug TenNapel would return as a "creative consultant".
[8]TenNapel also emphasized the importance of getting the original team members back together (such as David Perry and Nick Bruty) and being able to adapt to the higher production values and demands of the current generation of video game consoles.
In May 2011, Interplay announced that they were experiencing financial troubles again, including "substantial debt" and continued operating losses, and that could leave many future games in jeopardy.
[9] Despite TenNapel's comments a year prior, in these reports, Interplay listed the game as "Earthworm Jim 4, a project still in development but at an unknown state.
At the "Develop" conference in July 2012, Shiny Entertainment founder David Perry released a statement that he's sure there will be another Earthworm Jim game.
[13] A possible premise he outlined was as follows: The thing we had talked about in the past is Jim had been in retirement...So, he's been sitting at home watching movies and eating popcorn.
[13] In October 2015, original Earthworm Jim lead artist Nick Bruty held a Reddit AMA, where he addressed the issues that the fourth title fell into, stating: Oh man.
A new EWJ game with the original team almost happened about 5 years ago but a deal with the IP owners couldn't get worked out.
[16] Members of the original development team involved with the project include Doug TenNapel (creator and voice actor), Tommy Tallarico (composer and sound designer), David Perry (programmer), Nick Bruty (lead artist), Nicholas Jones (programmer), Tom Tanaka (level designer), Steve Crow (background artist), Edward Schofield (animator), and Mike Dietz (animator).
[20][21] In August 2020, alongside news of the first delay of the console, the game's first gameplay trailer was released.