Nine Years Ago, a Legendary Horror Game Launched - Now It's Unplayable

Most horror games focus on just that--horror. Tense scares, blood, and survival. However, we do get a few horror games that go off the tried and true path and carve out their own identities, most notably in asymmetrical multiplayer games, and one of the biggest ones in history just turned nine years old, despite not being playable anymore.

Today, May 25, 2026 (Memorial Day), marks the ninth anniversary of the release of Friday the 13th: The Game. The game, released after the multiplayer global sensation that its closest competitor, Dead by Daylight, saw players group up as camp counselors or play as the iconic Jason Voorhees to either escape alive or hunt all of the other players down.

The game was styled as a 1v7 multiplayer experience, with one player randomly (mostly) chosen to be Jason. The other seven players were the survivors and had to work together to escape from Camp Crystal Lake by various means, such as by car, boat, or calling the police, or even killing Jason, with strict requirements. Jason wins by killing all other players.

According to Metacritic, the game sits at a lukewarm metascore of 61. Despite its middling review scores, the game became a fan favorite and even launched a series of memes and fun videos with players role-playing within the game.

Unfortunately, the game is no longer playable by traditional means and is no longer up for sale on digital stores. On June 8, 2023, the developers took to social media to announce that the license for the game was expiring, and the game would no longer be for sale after December 31, 2023.

The developers made the commitment that the servers would continue to operate until December 31, 2024. The game's servers went down for good on January 1, 2025, rendering the game all but unplayable. There have been some workarounds and unofficial online servers made around the game, but most of them have also ceased operation.

Developer IllFonic would go on to release more asymmetrical horror games, like Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game and the upcoming Halloween game, which is releasing in September this year.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 1:20 PM.