Evil Dead: The Game studio halts development of new content just 16 months after launch - but servers will stay up for now
Saber says it will address “any major issues”, but that’s about it
Evil Dead: The Game, the PvP co-op shooter based on the bloody comedy-horror movie series, survived till dawn - but not much longer. 16 months after its release, its developers are putting a stop to any new content for the multiplayer game. You’ll still be able to keep playing for the time being, at least.
Evil Dead: The Game became the latest beloved horror franchise to be turned into some kind of multiplayer video game last May (Friday the 13th, no less), when it hit the Epic Games Store as an exclusive a year-and-a-bit after it was first announced (and subsequently delayed) by devs Saber Interactive.
A sort-of third-person Left 4 Dead-alike with Deadites in place of zombies, the game allowed a group of four pals to take on the roles of Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams and friends as they boomsticked and chainsaw hand-ed their way through crowds of the (un)dead in familiar places from the movies and sequel TV series Ash vs Evil Dead. One player could also work against the others as the Kandarian Demon, possessing objects around the world like that bit in Evil Dead 2 where Campbell fights his own hand.
An update last summer introduced a single-player Exploration mode and various new maps and weapons based on time-travelling third film Army of Darkness, including the likes of an explosive crossbow and new costumes (which cost real money).
Just over a year on, though, Saber have announced that they won’t be developing any additional content for Evil Dead: The Game, along with cancelling a planned Switch port of the PC and PlayStation/Xbox release. The game was initially released for £32/€38/$39.
Saber added that it will keep the multiplayer servers for the game live “for the foreseeable future”, as well as saying that “any major issues” would be addressed. On the whole, though, it looks like Evil Dead: The Game will become not quite dead, but not quite living either - which I suppose is fitting in many ways.
“On behalf of the entire team at Saber, thank you for all the groovy times and your continued support,” the announcement ended.