Credit: Universal Pictures / Miramax / Blumhouse ProductionsFew horror franchises have been through as many endings, reboots, retcons, and alternate timelines as Halloween. Now, it’s about to hit reset all over again, this time going all the way back to the night when it all started: October 31, 1978.
Halloween: The Game (2026) will launch across major platforms on September 8, and while it may initially look like another licensed video game, it feels considerably more ambitious. In fact, it could effectively draw a line under the long-running Halloween film series as we know it.
IllFonic’s upcoming asymmetrical multiplayer title is being treated less like a traditional video game adaptation and more like a Halloween movie in its own right.
There have been multiple trailers, extensive promotional coverage, a substantial cast of characters, and a story that takes us back to the most important night in Michael Myers’ history: Halloween night in 1978.
Rather than following the latest film in the series, Halloween Ends (2022), or continuing any of the previous installments, the game returns to John Carpenter’s 1978 film, ignoring all the sequels while expanding upon that original story from Michael’s perspective, allowing players to control The Shape as he escapes Smith’s Grove and begins his killing spree across Haddonfield.
The developers have even described the single-player story mode as a “reimagined extended cut” of the original movie, meaning several familiar characters are back, too. Watch the launch trailer below:
Related: ‘Halloween’ (1978) Gets “Reimagined Extended Cut”, Film Officially Altered for a Modern Audience
Nick Castle returns as The Shape (who is also performed in motion capture by stuntman/actor TJ Storm), while Chelsea Krause voices Laurie Strode, Kaitlyn Robrock voices Annie Brackett, Angela Carbone voices Lynda van der Klok, and Nicholas Leung voices Bob Simms.
Colin Mahan also returns as Dr. Samuel Loomis, having previously provided the character’s voice in David Gordon Green’s films, Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills (2021).
The result is something that feels much closer to a new interpretation of Halloween (1978) than a conventional licensed game.
Meanwhile, the film series has reached a crossroads. Halloween Ends concluded the Blumhouse/Green trilogy in 2022, and there is currently no new Halloween movie in development. Miramax’s previously reported TV reboot was intended as a complete creative reset built entirely around Carpenter’s original; however, the project’s current status remains unclear.
For now, Halloween: The Game is the next major new chapter for the franchise.
It launches on September 8, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store). Early Access began on September 4.
Will you be playing Halloween: The Game? Let us know in the comments!
