Survival horror Friday the 13th: The Game is finally getting its last update in May, leaving it to “maintenance mode”.
On May 4, nearly four years after the game was released, the game will receive a patch that will be its last. A major one, the update will see many fixes to the game one final time, ultimately addressing many lingering issues.
Of Servers and Forum
However, the game is not technically dead yet. While dedicated servers will shut down, players would still be able to play the game via peer-to-peer matches. Meaning, Private Matches and Quick Play, the process of which would require an active Database Servers running in the background. Essentially, the so-called “maintenance mode”.
To coincide with the closure of the game’s managed hosting service, the forums will also see a shift to read-only mode. This means that while users would still be able to access the site’s contents, nobody can post new contents in it. It essentially archives the platform into a locked state to be used as reference of previous discussions among the community members.
Legal Dispute
Friday the 13th: The Game’s legal trouble begun sometime after the game’s release, involving the game’s rights as an IP. An issue which the game’s publisher and developer cite as unprecedented. Consequently, due to an ongoing proceeding, new contents can no longer be made for the game.
While the developers put significant effort to do otherwise within the “limits of the legal case,” it severely restricted what the game could become. Consequently, it meant not producing new maps, alternate play modes, and playable characters. More specifically, an “Uber” version of Jason, the Jason Kill Packs, The Grendel Map, new Counselors, and emotes. As of June 2018, the announcement was made, bearing the bad news.
It has been years now since the said proclamation was made. But it’s not until the rollout of the final update that it implies the Gun Media’s willingness to move on. Seemingly the case, it comes in a form of a new project that CEO Wes Keltner claims to be “something spooky”. Which only comes fitting considering the role it played in bringing the classic horror back into mainstream in gaming.
Game Fixes
As for the update itself, avid fans can expect to see certain changes with the game across all platforms. In particular, some improvements over the Combat Stance and abilities for the Counselors.
However, of all platforms, it seems that the Switch version gets the more fixes to existing technical problems. Which, adding to the aforementioned, includes enhancements to Jason itself and the general gameplay.
Image used courtesy of RabidRetrospectGames/YouTube Screenshot