Twin Peaks Return Rumors Heat Up After Game Leak, Producer Response

Will Twin Peaks return (again)?

In early September, Steam accidentally leaked achievements for several upcoming games, revealing spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 4, Persona 6, Judas, and many others. Beyond providing information about highly anticipated titles, the leak also mentioned several unannounced titles, including a new Avengers game, a Stellaris expansion or spinoff, a Shrek 2 remaster, and, perhaps most shockingly, a Twin Peaks video game.

The leaked data for the supposed Twin Peaks game has an achievement titled “Welcome to Twin Peaks,” with the description “Reach the Double R Diner.” For those who don’t recall, the Double R Diner is Norma Jennings’ restaurant and a recurring hotspot throughout the series.

While there are plenty of reasons to doubt that this game is both real and a project that will actually come out someday, a Reddit post has fueled further speculation.

A user on r/twinpeaks wrote that they reached out to Twin Peaks season 3 producer and longtime David Lynch collaborator Sabrina S. Sutherland about whether the game was real, and she allegedly responded, “There is a game that will be coming out eventually.” Admittedly, it seems a bit dubious that Sutherland would have answered a random social media message confirming an unannounced video game, but stranger things have happened.

Fans were a bit divided on the concept of the game. Most poked fun at the idea, suggesting absurdist concepts like it being a bike riding simulator with James or a Cooking Mama clone where Shelly and Norma make coffee next to a dead body. While some were excited about the idea of a studio like Remedy working on the project, others were skeptical, arguing that this niche has already been filled by Twin Peaks-inspired games like Deadly Premonition or Thimbleweed Park. “All good things come to an end, and that’s part of what makes them good,” one user argued. Frankly, it’s a sage point.

What is Twin Peaks?

Twin Peaks originally ran from 1990 to 1991 before receiving an unexpected revival from Showtime that went from May 21 to Sept. 3, 2017. This third season, Twin Peaks: The Return, was a perfect send-off for this legendary surrealist series, as Lynch pulled off the Herculean task of personally directing all 18 episodes while co-writing each alongside series co-creator Mark Frost. The final season was bizarre, unnerving, and ended on another quintessential Twin Peaks cliffhanger.

While it’s tempting to want more, perhaps it’s best to let the series rest. Series co-creator and all-time great film director David Lynch died last year, and while it’s possible he gave this game his blessing before his passing, it’s difficult to imagine more of the series without his direct involvement. In 2019, Showtime released a short Twin Peaks VR game that failed to make waves.