Horror icon Jason Vorhees is set to return from the grave once again to star in another videogame. The excellent Rely on Horror got the scoop when speaking to Harry Manfredini at the recent Crystal Lake Reunion. Harry Manfredini scored 2017’s Friday the 13th: The Game, an asymmetric multiplayer experience where a group of survivors had to escape the wrath of Jason.
Rely on Horror says that they spoke with Manfredini about how he created the game’s music, and during the conversation he revealed that he’s working on an unannounced Friday the 13th game which is being developed by a different team. He described the new project as having “more realistic looking” characters and that it will be a different style of game, presumably meaning it won’t be an asymmetrical multiplayer title.
Friday the 13th: The Game closed its servers in 2020, leaving behind a dedicated following who enjoyed its janky antics. The game struggled through licensing issues in 2018, reminding us all that it can be tricky to create anything based on an existing IP. Essentially, Gun Media had to halt all plans for more content to be put into the game due to a legal battle with Victor Miller, the writer of the first film, and Sean Cunningham, the producer and director who currently owns the rights to Friday the 13th. Gun Media had to announced that they wouldn’t be developing more content because they couldn’t afford to keep making things that may never get to be released. Instead, they shifted over to creating a Texas Chainsaw Massacre game.
As for Jason Vorhees, the slasher icon is attempting to make his big comeback. The last film he appeared in was the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th, which I think is actually a really fun flick which successfully brought back an intimidating Jason. A new TV series is in the works for 2024, while another movie reboot is also being worked on. In the meanwhile, though, Jason has been popping up in games, making an appearance in Mortal Kombat X and even starring in his very own puzzle game called Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle.
I’m happy to see a new game in the works. Some form of co-op experience where you and a few others have to survive Jason could be fun, for example, or maybe just let us play as Jason and hunt down victims. But I do wonder if Jason needs to be laid to rest permanently now, although there’s clearly money to be made if the recent reboot of the Halloween series is anything to go by, and where there’s money to be made there are people willing to puppet a corpse.
Speaking of Halloween, how about checking out my list of the best movies to watch on Halloween?
WGB 