[UPDATE] Halloween: The Game Patches Out Sex Minigame — Dev Confirms 'Major Oversight' — UPDATE: IllFonic has provided IGN with the following statement, confirming the removal of the sex minigame:
"Players may have noticed that our latest hotfix removed the Two-Person Power-Up minigame. This was due to an unintended issue that allowed end game reinforcement characters to engage with the minigame, which was a major oversight on our part. We have more content and minigames coming in the near future but current focus is our attention on immediate game needs. Keep an eye on our socials for updates as they become available.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Halloween: The Game developer IllFonic appears to have patched out a sex minigame after a gameplay clip went viral.
The video game adaptation of the iconic 1970s slasher movie lets players have sex in a closet, but one video of this minigame featuring Samuel Loomis raised eyebrows given the character, who is in his fifties during the events of the game and is based on deceased actor Donald Pleasence’s likeness, can have sex with teenagers.
Halloween: The Game doesn’t actually launch fully until September 8, but those who bought the Halloween Deluxe Edition were able to play from this weekend, and it didn’t take long for players to notice the sex minigame.
The game includes a number of playable characters made famous by the Halloween films. Bob Simms (voiced by Nicholas Leung), Annie Brackett (voiced by Kaitlyn Robrock), Lynda van der Klok (voiced by Angela Carbone), and Laurie Strode (voiced by Chelsea Krause) are all playable civilians across single-player and multiplayer.
The character of Samuel Loomis is the psychiatrist of series antagonist Michael Myers, and tries to prevent his patient from his murderous rampage in Halloween. In the video game, Loomis is a “hero civilian.”
In the game two players can hide in a closet. If you hide in a closet with another player already inside, you get a prompt to ask them out. If you do this and the offer is accepted, you get a button mashing minigame to raise a line on a bar as the camera shakes and the characters grunt. If both players keep the line in the right part of the bar for long enough, they'll fill up a heart and both characters get the “Stronger Together” buff. You don’t actually see the characters do anything.
LOOMIS FUCKIN LYNDA IN THE CLOSET? pic.twitter.com/NKYAyF6GYU
The video that went viral shows Loomis entering a closet in which 17-year-old Lynda is already hiding, then completing the sex minigame. You can imagine the Pleasance estate — if it wasn’t aware of the use of the actor’s likeness in this way before it probably is now — taking a dim view of the gameplay.
IllFonic has yet to comment (IGN has asked), but it released a hotfix this weekend hot on the heels of the game’s early access launch. The removal of the sex minigame is not mentioned in the patch notes. Here’s what IllFonic said:
While IllFonic has yet to confirm the sex minigame's removal, Halloween: The Game players are now calling for it to be restored, perhaps with Samuel Loomis specifically prevented from taking part (if his inclusion is indeed the problem here). "Why did they remove it!??!?!?!?" asked redditor freetheree. "Me and my homeboy just wanna have sex in a closet? And we can’t???? Tf??????"
Some players now think they've missed out on what may go down as an early access exclusive sex minigame in Halloween: The Game.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.