The ‘Halloween’ Game Makes Michael Myers the Star of the Show

For nearly 50 years, most Halloween movies have focused on Michael Myers’ victims rather than the man himself. For the upcoming video game, players will step into the Shape’s shoes and lumber their way into the events of the 1978 film.

To celebrate the spooky holiday, developer Illfonic talked up the game’s single-player story, aka “The Night He Came Home Reimagined.” In it, players will get to inhabit “critical moments” referenced but not seen in the first Halloween, such as Michael’s escape from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium and Phelps’ garage. (The video below features concept art of those two locations, plus a hardware store stocked with Halloween items and the Rabbit in Red Lounge featured in 2007’s Halloween reboot). Illfonic wants these moments to function as “supplemental material” that builds onto the movie and are joined by wholly new scenes and locations that introduce “Heroes of Haddonfield” that’ll be playable in the multiplayer mode, which pits four of them against Michael.

Halloween is Illfonic’s first true go at making a single-player mode, and its blog mentions the “commitment to delivering a compelling and authentic offering that matches the meticulous cadence of the original film,” including narration from recurring franchise staple Dr. Loomis. The studio also promises “fresh twists” to the movie’s events, such as multiple endings determined by how players make their way through Haddonfield and potentially other factors like the game’s different difficulties or sub-objectives achieved.

If killing it up as Michael Myers sounds at all fun to you, you’ll have to wait a while for Halloween—it’s releasing September 8, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.