Halloween: The Game is preparing to bring Michael Myers back to Haddonfield on September 8, but a huge portion of the gaming community will be unable to join him.
Developer IllFonic is launching the upcoming asymmetric horror game exclusively on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. As a result, players who still use a PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch will be left behind at launch.
Considering the enormous number of people who continue to play on older hardware, that potentially shuts millions of horror fans out of one of 2026’s most anticipated multiplayer horror releases.
Halloween: The Game skips PS4 and Xbox One
The biggest issue for players is the absence of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.
Both consoles built enormous audiences throughout the previous generation. Although PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have now been available for years, plenty of players have yet to make the jump to newer hardware.
That means Halloween: The Game is effectively requiring console players to own a current-generation system.
There is currently no announced PS4 or Xbox One edition scheduled alongside the September 8 release.
For people who mainly play multiplayer games with established groups of friends, this could also create another problem. If even one member of a regular group remains on older hardware, they could be unable to participate entirely.
Nintendo players are also left out
Nintendo players will not have access to Halloween: The Game either.
No Nintendo Switch version is included in the announced launch platforms. That removes another enormous console audience from the game’s potential player base.
Whether IllFonic could eventually bring the game to another Nintendo platform remains unclear. However, players should not expect a Nintendo release based on the currently confirmed September launch lineup.
For now, the only console options are PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Michael Myers returns to asymmetric multiplayer
For players who do have supported hardware, Halloween: The Game follows a structure familiar to fans of IllFonic’s previous work.
Matches place Michael Myers against four civilians in Haddonfield, recreating the constant pursuit that made the original Halloween movies famous.
One player controls Michael while the other four players attempt to survive.
The concept places the game firmly alongside other asymmetric horror titles where a powerful killer hunts a group of comparatively vulnerable survivors.
However, IllFonic has plenty of experience within that particular genre.
IllFonic has plenty of horror experience
IllFonic previously worked on several licensed multiplayer games, including Friday the 13th: The Game, Predator: Hunting Grounds, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game.
Friday the 13th: The Game became particularly well known among horror fans for allowing players to either control Jason Voorhees or attempt to escape him as camp counselors.
That experience makes Halloween a natural fit for the developer.
Michael Myers also lends himself particularly well to asymmetric gameplay. Rather than relying on speed or elaborate weapons, Myers is traditionally portrayed as a persistent threat who slowly closes the distance between himself and his victims.
Turning that idea into multiplayer gameplay could make encounters feel very different from conventional action games.
Halloween also includes a single-player mode
Multiplayer will not be the only way to experience the game.
IllFonic is also including a single-player mode starring Michael Myers.
That could make Halloween: The Game more appealing to players who enjoy the franchise but are less interested in competitive or cooperative online multiplayer.
It also gives the game something that multiplayer-focused horror releases sometimes struggle with: content that remains playable without depending entirely on an active online community.
Exactly how substantial the single-player portion will be remains to be seen.
Leaving last-gen consoles behind is becoming more common
While disappointing for PS4 and Xbox One owners, the decision reflects a wider shift across the gaming industry.
Developers increasingly have to decide whether supporting older consoles is worth the additional technical limitations and development resources involved.
Games designed around newer CPUs, faster storage, additional memory, and modern graphics hardware can become more difficult to scale back for systems released more than a decade earlier.
Dropping PS4 and Xbox One support can therefore give developers greater freedom.
The downside is obvious: millions of players still using those platforms are excluded.
That trade-off becomes especially noticeable with multiplayer games, where having as many players as possible usually benefits matchmaking and long-term activity.
A major September release for horror fans
Despite its limited platform selection, Halloween: The Game has the potential to attract significant attention from horror fans.
Michael Myers remains one of the most recognizable villains in horror history, while IllFonic already has years of experience adapting famous movie franchises into multiplayer games.
The combination gives the project a strong foundation.
However, the lack of PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo support means its potential audience will immediately be smaller than it could otherwise have been.
For players already using PC, PS5, or Xbox Series X/S, Michael Myers will begin stalking Haddonfield on September 8.
Everyone else will either need to upgrade their hardware or hope additional platforms are supported later.
