>>149931609
>Shortly after the release of Earthworm Jim 2, its original developer, Shiny Entertainment, was bought by Interplay Entertainment, and then put to work on other projects,[22] most notably the PlayStation platformer Wild 9 for three years.[23] Subsequently, the franchise was given to VIS Entertainment, and it was decided that, like many platform game series at the time (Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog et al.), gameplay would transition from 2D to 3D.[22]

>Additionally, original series designer David Perry had sold the rights to the franchise. Perry and original series creator Doug TenNapel were at first involved in the game as minor consultants, but were dismissed for unexplained reasons. Both expressed that they hated what was done with Earthworm Jim 3D, but legally could not prevent anything from happening.[27] TenNapel said he felt the series was "ruined" by the game.[9][28]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm_Jim
So basically a different company took over and Jim died with that change. Shiny kept making some pretty cool games for a while though, Wild 9 and MDK were nice. Meanwhile, Doug worked on the Neverhood games, which were also cool.