The Game Faces an Uphill Battle Against Dead by Daylight

Halloween: The Game was a surprise announcement during Gamescom 2025 from developers and publishers IllFonic, Gun Interactive, Compass International Pictures, and Further Front. The 2026 title is yet another asymmetrical 1v4 multiplayer title. The major difference between this game and others in the same genre is that it will feature a single-player mode told through the eyes of the iconic Michael Myers, but that’s not the problem.

Gun Interactive is the same studio that brought us two prior asymmetrical horror games: Friday the 13th: The Game and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. IllFonic developed the very recent and very underwhelming Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game, yet another failed asymmetrical horror game. That track record, combined with another genre-dominating title, has doomed Halloween: The Game before it even releases.

Dead By Daylight Has A Virtual Monopoly On Asymmetrical Horror Games

The Smash Bros. Of Horror

Any asymmetrical horror game not named Dead by Daylight is going to have a monumental mountain to climb to get any attention away from the game that popularized the genre. Even though DBD has been in decline in recent years (especially with the botched Walking Dead chapter), the game’s microtransactions and license-based content additions bring a lot of money and interest to the game. It reminds me of waiting for the next Smash Bros. character announcement.

There’s no other game in existence where you can play as iconic killers like Freddy Krueger, Sadako, Dracula, Alien, Chucky, and many more, along with cool original killers like The Unknown, The Trickster, and The Trapper. Add the iconic horror video game characters like Albert Wesker from Resident Evil and Freddy Fazbear from Five Nights at Freddy’s, and it seems like every horror fan’s dream on paper.

With such a wide variety of killers and survivors, it almost seems foolish to make another game focused on just one character, especially when Michael Myers is already playable in DBD. The game is far from perfect, but it’s been running for nine years, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Previous games have tried to be the “DBD killer” and have failed miserably.

The Developer’s Track Record Isn’t Great

Release A Game, Abandon It

On top of the stiff competition from DBD, the developers and publishers involved with Halloween: The Game do not have a good track record for supporting their games. Friday The 13th had a decent community, but the game’s servers have been taken down. Texas Chainsaw Massacre got content updates, like new survivors and new killers, but it was also abandoned fairly quickly. Killer Klowns barely lasted a month before its player count dwindled.

It seems that asymmetrical horror fans want something to compete with DBD, so then they jump over to whatever new game is out, but then quickly realize that the game doesn’t have the same appeal as DBD, either for game design issues, gameplay concerns (like being able to troll and damage the killers, which you can’t do nearly as much in DBD), or other reasons.

With Halloween: The Game being limited to just Michael Myers, it likely won’t have the same appeal, unless the gameplay is fun and unique, and the single-player offering is substantial. Of course, I could be wrong, and maybe we will finally get the “DBD killer,” but I’m not hopeful. At least not yet. It’ll be a while before we see for sure, as Halloween: The Game is slated for a release sometime in 2026.

Halloween

Systems

Released

2026

Developer(s)

Illfonic

Publisher(s)

Illfonic, Gun Media

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer