Friday the 13th: The Game has been a lot like a horror movie monster: No matter what's been done to it over the years, it just will not die. But today publisher Gun Media announced that the end is finally in sight: The company's license will expire on December 31, at which time it will no longer be offered for sale, and at some point after that it will stop working completely.
"The game will, however, continue to function through at least December 31, 2024, if you already own it," Gun Media said. "At this time, we've made the decision to reduce the price to $4.00 for the base game and $0.99 for each piece of DLC content. We will continue to offer the title and content at that price point right up until it is removed from digital/physical storefronts on December 31st, 2023."
pic.twitter.com/n52hJPUxwxJune 8, 2023
It hasn't been a smooth ride for Friday the 13th, and like a supernaturally-powered killer who gets shot and axed and set on fire and just keeps coming, the game suffered through a multitude of issues over its surprisingly long life. It made quite a positive impression when it debuted in 2017 but—surprise!—the full release was plagued by persistent server issues and worries that developer Illfonic had abandoned the project completely in favor of something new.
The problems grew more serious the following year, when content development was put on hold because of a legal dispute over ownership of the Friday the 13th property. Not long after that, further development was cancelled entirely, and in 2020 dedicated server functionality was dropped. But through it all, the game continued to run, and people continued to play: The peak concurrent player count in May, according to Steam Charts, was 675—not a lot, but a lot more than, say, Redfall.
And there's some genuine disappointment in the replies on Twitter, too:
It always sucks when games come to an end, but seven years isn't a bad run, especially for a game that took a beating like this one. And who knows? A year and a half is a lot of time—maybe long enough for modders to figure out some kind of workaround.
Regardless of how that works out, the slow death of Friday the 13th does not signal the end of licensed multiplayer survivor horror antics: Gun Media is now working on a very promising Texas Chainsaw Massacre game that's expected to be out later this year.
