McDonald’s Monopoly Is Coming Back, And People Aren’t Happy

As far as recurring games go at fast food chains, McDonald’s Monopoly is arguably the most successful―if by “successful,” you mean “it’s been around forever.” Whether people actually enjoy it is another question entirely, and we’ll get to that, but it’s hard to deny that it has staying power, despite it taking long leaves of absence. McDonald’s Monopoly first ran in the U.S. in 1987, and not even a highly prolific case of multi-million-dollar fraud would lead to its full discontinuation. Throughout the years, it’s disappeared and reappeared, and in 2025 it returned after a decade-long absence. 

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Now, in 2026, McDonald’s Monopoly is coming back once more. It’s not being received well so far by customers, though. 

McDonald’s Monopoly: The Comeback

A couple of months ago, people over on Reddit started asking whether McDonald’s Monopoly would be making a comeback this year…and in the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen a couple of pieces of info that seem to confirm it’s coming back in the U.S. Although we’re still waiting on official confirmation from McDonald’s itself, customers have said they’ve started receiving flyers with their orders saying that the game is returning on October 6th, while elsewhere, guidance for McDonald’s employees around the Monopoly game has apparently been shared on Reddit. That guidance also states that McDonald’s Monopoly will begin on October 6th and says that its promotional rollout will start in the latter half of September. 

So Why Are People Unhappy?

The problem primarily stems from McDonald’s apparent methods of entry. It looks as though you can participate in McDonald’s Monopoly and get a single game piece by mailing a self-addressed, stamped envelope to McDonald’s. The problem, though, is that customers feel that the cost of mailing inhibits this from being anywhere near a viable offer. Beyond this, at the moment, people generally feel that McDonald’s has become way too expensive at a base level, and so the concept of purchasing things to get other free things just…doesn’t feel like a lot of fun. Ultimately, it feels like there’s just too much bad blood towards McDonald’s Monopoly and the mistakes of previous years, as well as new alterations, that are stopping anyone from getting particularly excited about it.

But who knows? Maybe when it’s officially announced (if it’s officially announced―again, none of this information has been confirmed by the restaurant), there will be a new surge of enthusiasm. For now, though, it could be facing an uphill battle.