Bad news, gamers.
The on-going legal battle around the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise have now extended into the realm of video games as well. After a shaky start, Friday the 13th: The Game has grown to be a fan favorite, with a great new take on the franchise. Allowing players to pick up the role of counselors, or the hockey-masked killer himself, it allowed for hours of entertainment.
Gun Media and IllFonic, the publisher & developer of the game, have been providing new updates, both content-wise and game-wise, since its release. They have teased new maps, new versions of Jason, and more content over the year since it’s released. While a lot has already been released (making the game better!), it now seems that all new expected content has been canceled.
From their press release issued earlier today:
Friday the 13th: The Game has established a loyal and excited fan base over the last year. As publisher/developer, Gun and IllFonic have made every effort to provide our fans with an authentic and great gaming experience.
As many in our community may be aware, a legal claim has been made which could affect all future Friday the 13th intellectual property. Although in the past the game has not been subject to any such claim, new content and material going forward will be affected. An initial decision in this case was expected in October 2017, but no decision has yet been issued. The court review of the legal rights is in process, but final resolution may take some time. Until the claim rights can be dismissed or resolved, no new content can be released.
When we originally learned that the game fell within the crosshairs of this legal dispute, we tried to balance the creation of new content requested by our fans against the maintenance and bug fixing that our community expects and deserves. We attempted to do both within the limits of the legal case.
We’ve now been forced to accept that the lawsuit makes future content for the game, including alternate play modes, new playable Jasons and Counselors, and new maps, unfeasible now or in the future. Although the listed content types will be affected, we remain committed to launching dedicated servers on our console platforms and providing the continued maintenance and bug fixing important to supporting our fan base.
So what does this mean exactly? There will be no additional content added to Friday the 13th: The Game. This includes “Uber Jason”, The Grendel Map, Jason Kill Packs, Clothing, Emotes and new Counselors.
This is a major bummer. Not just because I’ve been looking forward to Uber Jason’s release, but also because this legal battle is sucking the life out of the Friday franchise overall.
However, let’s remain hopeful that the legal problems will be resolved soon, and to an extent that pleases us all. And, fingers crossed, that once it does, all the new content we have been waiting for comes out.
