Credit: Universal Pictures / Miramax / Blumhouse ProductionsAfter a month of speculation following its eerie teaser, the new Halloween video game has returned with a full gameplay reveal during PlayStation’s State of Play.
A New Halloween Reboot
Developed by Illfonic, the project transports players to a living “sandbox” version of Haddonfield, Illinois, circa 1978 — the same year John Carpenter’s classic slasher first terrified audiences.
In the video, Illfonic’s Miles Dompier explains the team’s approach to capturing the setting: “With the help of Unreal Engine 5, we’ve been able to reconstruct the quiet town of Haddonfield in stunning detail. Remaining authentic to the ’70s era aesthetics was essential to how we crafted our play spaces.” Watch the new video below:
There’s a Twist
But Illfonic isn’t just building an online multiplayer experience similar to its previous title “Friday the 13th: The Game” (2017). The studio also revealed that the game will feature a story mode, too, allowing players to experience Haddonfield in a way that combines narrative and survival.
Every suburban street, dimly lit alley, and pumpkin-lined porch is re-created to capture the atmosphere of the original film, making the town itself a character in the horror. Haddonfield is also populated with “randomized townsfolk NPCs” who are “living their lives, completely unaware of the danger lurking right outside their windows.”
One of Michael Myers’ Supernatural Abilities Finally Explained
One of the standout elements in the footage, however, is the introduction of “Shape Jump,” the developers’ interpretation of how Michael Myers is able to appear and vanish without warning in the films. “Michael comes equipped with an array of unpredictable endowments. But the most powerful is Shape Jump,” Dompier says.
“This is our interpretation of Michael’s inexplicable tendency to suddenly appear in completely unexpected places and catch victims off guard.” Instead of leaving his off-screen movements completely to the imagination, the game gives players a mechanic that allows Myers to stalk victims with sudden, disorienting shifts in presence.
While many fans are happy to leave certain questions about Michael Myers unanswered, it’s still a clever nod to how the “Shape” has always defied logic.
Related: 5 Scenes In ‘Halloween Ends’ That Prove Michael Myers Is Supernatural
Halloween: Predator or Prey
Illfonic’s experience with asymmetrical multiplayer (“Friday the 13th: The Game”, “Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed”) means that players will continue to have the chance to inhabit both predator and prey. Not only can players choose from “a broad range of compelling civilian hero characters”, they can “step behind the mask of Michael, whose “goal is to find stalk and kill the residents of Haddonfield before Halloween night ends,” Dompier adds. The new gameplay teaser shows victims scrambling to survive, while Myers’ perspective emphasizes dread, patience, and the terrifying inevitability of the hunt.
By setting the game in 1978, Illfonic grounds the action in the same era as the original film, free from decades of sequels, reboots, spinoffs, and continuity shifts. This choice reinforces the sense of purity and dread that made Carpenter’s movie resonate with audiences.
When Is the Halloween Game Out?
For longtime fans, the reveal finally provides an explanation for Michael Myers’ supernatural ambiguity that fits the medium of games while respecting the mythos. With its mixture of multiplayer chaos and story-driven tension, “Halloween” looks set to bring the bogeyman to life in ways the franchise has never attempted before.
Here’s the official website’s description for the game:
“Boogeyman or Hero: The Boogeyman is out. Team up in a 1v4 asymmetrical horror showdown on everyone’s favorite night of the year. Choose to save the quiet town of Haddonfield from bloodshed as a Hero of Haddonfield or stalk and terrorize the residents as Michael Myers.”
Illfonic has confirmed “Halloween” is launching on September 8, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store). This timing puts it well beyond the upcoming Halloween season, but at least it gives the studio more time to polish both the online and single-player modes, because let’s face it — expectations will be high.
Are you excited about the upcoming Halloween game? Let us know in the comments down below!