The Scott Pilgrim series has always been known for its chaotic energy, pulling from video games, music, and comics in what often feels like the fastest, loudest, and most unpredictable way. That’s what makes the origin story for Scott Pilgrim EX feel so on-brand for the IP, as its conception doesn’t trace back to some meticulously laid out studio pitch or publisher mandate. Rather, the reason Scott Pilgrim EX exists today is that the franchise’s creator and one of its biggest fans eventually came together and decided they loved the original game so much that they wanted to make another one. But not even that paints the big picture of its beginnings, as one of those fans fell in love with the game after he accidentally ingested too much caffeine.
In a recent interview with GameRant, Scott Pilgrim EX creative consultant BenDavid Grabinski (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) spilled the beans on how the game came to be, intimating that it was more of a passion project than anything else. However, it was where that passion began that makes this feel like a genuine love letter to Scott Pilgrim, and it was all thanks to Grabinski’s unawareness that something he was drinking would keep him awake long enough to beat the entirety of the original game in one sitting.
Scott Pilgrim EX Creative Consultant Beat the Original Game on a Caffeine Rush
Long before that time came, Grabinski was already a fan of Scott Pilgrim, having followed the series through its original comic run and connecting with its tone and style well before the game ever released. So when Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game launched in 2010, it wasn’t something he picked up on a whim, but something he was already primed to dive into. What he didn’t expect was how that first experience with it would play out, as a combination of timing, circumstance, and a little too much caffeine turned a casual gameplay session into something far more memorable. He explained:
“When the [original Scott Pilgrim] game came out, I had a few Four Loko and I didn’t know they had caffeine in them. I had people over and someone brought it over, and I was like, “Oh, I guess I’ll have a couple of these things.” And afterward, I realized that one of them is like a pot of coffee, and I couldn’t sleep. I was like, what am I supposed to do? So, I got the Scott Pilgrim game and I played it from 10:00 p.m. at night until, like, 1 p.m. the next day and I beat it because my body just could not handle having that much caffeine in my system. I’m not someone who pulls all-nighters. I never did, even in college, for homework or whatever. But I reached a point where I beat it and maxed up all the levels, and I was obsessed with it.”
If Grabinski played the original Scott Pilgrim game right around the time it came out, he would have only been in his late 20s, but even then, pulling an all-nighter would have been hard on his body—especially considering how much he seems to value a good night’s sleep. But what’s most interesting about this story is that, while Four Loko is a purely alcoholic drink now, back in 2010 (when the original game was released) it actually contained caffeine, taurine, and guarana alongside alcohol. But later in the same year, after pressure from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and several states, the manufacturers reformulated Four Loko and removed all caffeine and stimulants. Everything sold since then has been caffeine-free.
In other words, Grabinski only just missed his accidental caffeine-fueled all-nighter with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. Had the game launched even a few months later, he likely still would have played it—as he expressed his love for video games during the interview—but it might have instead been a playthrough spread out over multiple days or weeks instead. At the very least, it gives Grabinski a humorous anecdote he can share for the rest of his life about how Scott Pilgrim EX eventually came to be.
When Grabinski and Bryan Lee O’Malley Decided to Team Up on Scott Pilgrim EX
And speaking of how it came to be, while Grabinksi’s accidental caffeine binge is what enabled him to beat Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game in one night, it’s ultimately what inspired him and Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley to work together on Scott Pilgrim EX once they wrapped on their anime adventure TV miniseries Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. As Grabinski explained:
“So, when we were finishing the show, Brian and I thought it’d be really cool if they made another game, and we were like, “Hey, can we have some meetings with some people?” And the fun thing about it became, I’ve never got to make something before where the extent of my work is just getting on Zooms and pitching ideas, and I get to enjoy it as a fan, because I have some ideas, everyone does really hard work, and then these wonderful things get put in front of me.”
Grabinski was humble about his involvement with the development of Scott Pilgrim EX (though he argued he’s not really that humble), in that he saw himself more as an idea man than anything else, simply because he was too busy making his film Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice at the time to put his hands on things. Instead, he attributed most of the game’s development to the team at Tribute Games, Scott Pilgrim EX‘s developer and publisher.
However, in expressing his appreciation towards the team and lobbing praise their way rather than receiving it for himself, he still clearly enjoyed the role that he played in the whole process, which came down to attending virtual meetings where he got to contribute as a fan. Grabinski continued:
“Like, someone will say, “Hey, we need to have a fake store, kind of like Hot Topic in our game, but we can’t come up with a name.” And I’m like, “How about Cold Topic?” And now you can buy Cold Topic shirts at a literal Hot Topic. So, I had a very spoiled contribution to this process of I just occasionally have an idea that I think is really funny, and then now it’s a video game. And I just selfishly wanted to play as Robot 01, and now I can play as Robot 01 in a game. What, what else do I want out of life?”
Contributions like this are what make projects like Scott Pilgrim EX mean more, though, especially to fans of the IP. When a fan as die-hard as BenDavid Grabinski is involved in the creative process for a beat-em-up game like Scott Pilgrim EX, it shows, not necessarily in sweeping design overhauls or dramatic reinventions, but in the smaller details that feel like they come from someone who actually understands why people connected with it in the first place. It’s in the humor, the references, and even the willingness to throw out an idea just because it feels right for Scott Pilgrim, not because it checks a box on a design document.
In that sense, the story behind Scott Pilgrim EX lines up with the series itself. It’s unconventional, a little chaotic, and built on moments that weren’t planned but ended up mattering anyway. What began as an accidental, caffeine-fueled all-nighter eventually led to a creative role in shaping the next chapter, and that kind of throughline is hard to force. It reflects the kind of long-term connection that tends to define projects like this more than any single feature ever could.
- Released
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March 3, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Tribute Games Inc.
- Publisher(s)
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Tribute Games Inc.
- Multiplayer
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Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op
