Friday the 13th: The Game content updates cancelled due to lawsuit

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

We FRIDAY THE 13TH fans just can't catch a break. Warner Bros. and Paramount, together and separately, wasted eight years letting sequels and reboots languish in development hell, rejecting scripts and cancelling announced projects. Now the franchise has gone dormant while the director of the original F13, Sean S. Cunningham, and the screenwriter, Victor Miller, take each other to court to decide which of them deserves to hold the rights. Until that situation is worked out, Jason Voorhees can't do anything.

And just when you thought Friday the 13th: The Game was getting by without being affected by that lawsuit, the game's publishers/developers have had to announce that all content updates are now cancelled, because this court case is restricting them, too. The following press release was sent out yesterday: 

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.

We had shared the news that JASON X's Uber Jason and the Grendel space ship were being added to the game back in December, but unfortunately that won't be happening now.

This is really disappointing, because Friday the 13th: The Game is the only official release fans have gotten since FRIDAY THE 13TH 2009, and now some of the potential fun is being taken away from it because of legal issues. At least players will still be able to enjoy the game as it currently is.