Plumbers Don't Wear Ties was initially rather obscure due to the only known version being available for years being the 3D0 version. However, it eventually gained widespread attention after YouTuber James Rolfe reviewed the game as part of his webseries "The Angry Video Game Nerd". This eventually led to the game's PC version, which was originally considered lost media, to be unearthed years later in the library of Ball State University in Indiana.

In a promotional video by Limited Run Games for the game's re-release on modern consoles, various staff members noted how difficult it is to give people a reason to buy what is considered one of the worst video games ever made. To that end, they wished to help "re-contextualize" the game, making it available to a modern audience in order to satiate their inherent curiosity about the game. They also argued that the game was historically important, due to representing "something that was really unusual for the console space".

It was also noted that there was a strong argument that the preservation of the worst games ever made was just as important as the best games ever made, with the more "experimental" efforts being more interesting to look back on than something that was good. The game is noted to give a "slice of life" of what the game market was like at the time, being described as a "time capsule" of the era.

The character Jane is notably played by Jeanne Bascone, a former wrestler of GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling) where she was known as "Hollywood".