It's been nearly 16 years since we’ve had a Friday the 13th movie. We’re probably going to hit the two decade mark before that streak ends, sad to say. The last time Jason Voorhees graced the silver screen was in the 2009 remake. Ever since, fans have had to turn elsewhere to get their “big guy kills sexy young people by a lake with a machete” fix. For many people, myself included, a wonderful solution presented itself in the form of Friday the 13th: The Game. Unfortunately, that party is now over as well.
As of December 31, 2024, the servers for the popular online video game shut down, with Gun Media announcing that they had lost the Friday the 13th license in summer 2023. They did the cool thing and basically maxed out all of the active players with tons of perks to allow everyone to go out with a bang. Even so, the game is essentially no longer playable. Even the several offline modes have reportedly been rendered unplayable. With that, arguably the last truly significant piece of media released in this longstanding horror franchise is dead, which is a true shame.
Anyone who tries to play the game now is greeted with an error that reads, “Database login failure!” The game had already been taken down from storefronts, with physical copies of the game not available on shelves for some time. Granted, nobody can come take physical copies of the game from anyone’s home, but those copies don’t do anyone much good with the servers now shut down. Alas, those discs now serve as a relic of what once was, rather than what is.
For those who didn’t partake in the joys offered by Friday the 13th: The Game, it’s not unlike Dead by Daylight with the “kill or be killed” format. Players would either take the form of Jason or the campers. Jason would need to kill said campers before they escaped the map. It was deceptively simple but endlessly entertaining. That’s largely thanks to developer Illfonic, who made what played like a love letter to the films. Want to play as bag head Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2? No problem! How about a version of Jason designed by the legendary Tom Savini just for the game? You got it!
Many other games have utilized similar formats in recent years, such as Evil Dead: The Game, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Predator: Hunting Grounds, but something about this game in particular felt special. That’s probably because the franchise has been all but dead for so long. A certain group of fans even tried to resurrect Friday the 13th: The Game with a fan-made version before they were shut down. Sadly, that’s more indicative of the state of things.
For years, the rights for the franchise were tied up in a messy legal battle between Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller. That’s why we haven’t had a new movie. That’s also why the game had to stop adding any new content at one point. It’s also almost certainly why Gun Media wasn’t able to retain the license. Fans, in the end, are the ones who must suffer over these squabbles.
It’s not all bad news though. Last year, it was revealed that a new Friday the 13th game of some sort is in the works. We’ll likely learn more about that now that this game is defunct. We’ve also got the A24 TV series Crystal Lake, which is in the works for Peacock. Though that project has hit some pretty major speed bumps along the way and we haven’t had any significant updates in several months.
For now, myself and many others who enjoyed this game must say goodbye. I can’t speak for everyone, but I would personally like to thank the folks at Illfonic and Gun Media for making this bloody fun little love letter to Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake. Pour one out and raise those machetes up high. It’s been real.
For more, get the lowdown on what’s in store for Friday the 13th in the future, according to Sean S. Cunningham.
