‘Friday The 13th: The Game’ Finally Lands A Release Date, New Mode Announced
Horror fans have been waiting patiently for years to witness slasher icon Jason Voorhees return to the video game world, and luckily for them, their wait is almost over. Jason will once again come back to Camp Crystal Lake to wreak havoc on frightened teenagers across the globe on May 26 when Friday the 13th: The Game arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. The news was revealed on the game’s official Twitter feed.
Gun Media and IllFonic are happy to announce that Friday the 13th: The Game will launch on May 26th, 2017 for Xbox One, PS4 and Steam! pic.twitter.com/PUhm4p0kcf
— Friday The 13th Game (@Friday13thGame) April 21, 2017
The reveal of the release date has been a long time coming for fans, as Friday the 13th: The Game was originally revealed on Kickstarter in October of 2015. The project raised over $800,000 on the crowdfunding site (and pulled in over $2.1 million total with additional funds from BackerKick) and had the blessing and involvement of series creator Sean S. Cunningham, special effects icon Tom Savini, and Kane Hodder, who played Jason in multiple Friday the 13th films.
Not only am I back under the mask in the F13 game, I'm even under the mask of Savini's new Jason. Don't think you guys are ready for this..
— Kane Hodder (@kanehodder1) February 21, 2017
Over the next year and a half, more news about the game slowly began to trickle out, with new gory videos and photos released of what the gameplay would entail. The developers increasingly teased the fans about the impending arrival but never delivered word as to when Friday the 13th would actually be completed. Now gamers have their answer, and a price point too. The game will be $40 at launch.
When Friday the 13th: The Game launches, it will only have multiplayer offerings, which features a semi-open world one vs. seven mode. The publisher, Gun Media, went into further details on its website.
“Friday the 13th: The Game is a third-person horror, survival game where players take on the role of a teen counselor, or for the first time ever, Jason Voorhees. You and six other unlucky souls will do everything possible to escape and survive while the most well-known killer in the world tracks you down and brutally slaughters you.”
While playing with others is the only way to enjoy the game upon its debut, the publisher also announced that there will a single-player component that will be added later on as a free download. No date has yet been revealed for when that will arrive.
Friday the 13th: The Game wasn’t supposed to be a part of the legendary series, as the initial plan was for it to be produced as an homage. Originally, it was known as Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp. Then, the game’s development team went straight to Cunningham to try and obtain the license for the series. Eventually, the two sides worked out a deal and were able to bring onboard many familiar faces from Jason’s horrifying and revenge-filled past to the project.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Friday the 13th series has produced a video game. In 1989, Friday the 13th was released on the original NES, which was a strange fit for the family-friendly gaming system. While that initial entry didn’t feature any blood, it did have the basic framework of innocent teenagers having to run from a machete-wielding Jason.
That game has come to be known for its punishing difficulty and has earned a bit of a notorious reputation since its release. Friday the 13th has found itself on multiple “worst of” lists for the NES over the years. Nintendo Power even had it rated the seventh-worst game of all time in their 1997 feature.
While fellow horror franchise Saw received multiple releases on major gaming consoles, the Friday films laid dormant. Until now. Of course, the newest publishers for the Friday the 13th series are trying to do away with the game’s tarnished reputation and hope to offer up a killer reception for Jason this time around.
[Featured Image by Gun Media]
