Cult filmmaker John Carpenter appears to have been having a second at Gamescom 2025. Not solely does his title grace the title for Poisonous Commando, Saber Interactive’s enjoyable evolution of the zombie co-op FPS, however his sci-fi horror, The Factor, can also be a key affect of the upcoming Directive 8020. Topping it off, it was through the present the place the beforehand introduced Halloween, primarily based on the horror basic with Carpenter himself connected as government producer, had its first trailer it was introduced that his defining slasher horror basic Halloween is being changed into a recreation, with Carpenter himself connected as an government producer.
Given it is being developed by Illfonic–the studio behind different licensed horror or horror-adjacent video games like Friday the thirteenth, Killer Klowns from Outer Area, Predator, and Ghostbusters–in collaboration with Gun Media, Compass Worldwide Photos, and Additional Entrance, it should not be a shock to be taught that this can include asymmetrical multiplayer. However this is not simply going to be Friday the thirteenth: The Game swapping out Jason Vorhees for Michael Myers. For one, the announcement confirms that Halloween can be each a single-player and multiplayer horror expertise.
Though Friday the thirteenth did technically characteristic single-player content material, these have been basically problem missions that featured no narrative. Sitting down with design director Jordan Mathewson, he explains that that is very a lot a narrative mode expertise that the studio is engaged on with Pollard Studio, the Shanghai-based studio behind Karma: The Darkish World. “It does have narrative and cinematic parts to actually give it a number of story and exploration into what it’s doing,” he says. “However we have additionally been constructing so much and iterating in a means that enables us to construct a kind of expertise that stands aside from multiplayer and offer you a totally completely different take a look at what this sort of recreation might be.”
Sadly, aside from the announcement trailer, there was no additional reveal of the gameplay–not even behind closed doors–and so it is nonetheless too early to have a transparent concept of what to anticipate from Halloween’s story mode, aside from that it’s going to put you within the boots and behind the masks of Michael Myers. However from what I can be taught from Matthewson, it sounds deliciously like a serial killer’s model of Hitman.
As Halloween can be utilizing the 1978 film as its blueprint, which means the setting is within the sleepy rural and suburban city of Haddonfield, Illinois. “All of the decorations, the characters, the clothes are all from the Nineteen Seventies,” he explains. “It’s been a number of enjoyable exploring what which means, and the whole lot that comes with having that sort of know-how again then with regards to really making the single-player is a giant portion of this in comparison with our earlier titles.”
Whereas Haddonfield might have you ever simply considering of the long-lasting suburban neighborhood, its grounded and acquainted setting being what elevates the horror when a terrifying killer is let unfastened in it, Matthewson additionally assures me that there can be a wide range of maps that transcend that neighborhood. “There’s much more to Haddonfield that you simply see all through the film that we’ll be exploring and ensuring there’s several types of maps which have completely different sizes and several types of play types related, so it does lend itself to completely different experiences as you get set on these completely different maps.”
Having what feels like giant sandbox maps goes to be essential to Halloween’s extra slow-paced and stealth-based gameplay. Whereas Friday the thirteenth boiled right down to Jason attempting to kill as many counselors as potential inside a time restrict, Halloween’s Haddonfield is not only a map however a simulation of ’70s suburbia, so there can be a number of NPCs additionally going about their very own routines on Halloween night time. The twist is that anybody of those might be targets for Myers.
That is the place the Agent 47 comparability comes into play, as Myers must bide his time, observing an NPC, staying within the shadows, till the opportune second to kill comes. What this implies is that fairly than enjoying as targets attempting to flee, the aim of different gamers is to forestall the bloodbath from occurring by rescuing the focused townsfolk, reminiscent of convincing them to go away their properties.
“It’s very stealthy on each side since Michael after all would not need to be seen and he has a extra methodical strategy, however the civilians are clearly attempting to remain out of sight till they’ve the means to attempt to fight him,” explains Matthewson. Simply as it’s that assassinating a goal out within the open can have everybody coming after you in Hitman, so too evidently Michael’s bloodbath might be tougher to tug off if he provides himself away. It can even be potential for the civilian gamers to escalate issues. “You may attempt to name the cops and persuade them there is a assassin on the unfastened. If the cops come to research and begin discovering proof, they will ship increasingly more that create a way more tough problem for Michael. He is very highly effective, however on the similar time, the authority figures will problem him.”
However with out seeing this in motion, I am unable to fairly image in my head how this performs out. Is the bogeyman significantly going to be deterred by a bunch of smalltown cops? If Michael Myers is such a foreboding presence, I can also’t think about his stealth choices are going to contain crouching in a bush, but when not then how does he keep stealthy? And on condition that this recreation is sticking to simply the 1978 film, which was arguably his most grounded depiction, does that restrict the sort of powers he could have when going through each different gamers as nicely the remainder of the city?
Alas, these are particulars we’ll have to attend for Illfonic to disclose at a later date. Nonetheless, Matthewson assures me that the studio has been doing a number of analysis and dealing immediately with IP holder Compass to discover what Michael is really able to. “It retains that grounded nature as a result of it’s meant to exist in a actuality the place you are feeling weak and you are feeling such as you’re in a well-recognized setting,” he says. “It’s been actually enjoyable to discover that aspect of it, and ensuring we follow it however then additionally getting to leap again to Michael’s perspective and increase on it in a means that makes it a extremely attention-grabbing, enjoyable, highly effective expertise.”
Halloween can be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Collection X|S in 2026.