Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed locks in October 18 release

It’s never too early to map out your month-long Halloween media schedule

We haven’t heard a ton about Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed lately, but the new slime-shooting, trap-laying multiplayer game will be released on October 18, 2022.

Pre-orders are opening up at retailers like Amazon — how much is it? $40 for the standard edition on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, and $70 for the collector’s. The game will launch on the Epic Games Store for PC, and it will also be playable on PS4 and Xbox One.

In case you missed it, this is the latest asymmetric multiplayer title from IllFonic, the folks behind Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Grounds (which is back in the spotlight, if only for a bit, thanks to the new curiosity-grabbing movie Prey).

Expect more info shortly

The developers will have more to share during a live play session on August 18 at 11:15 a.m. Pacific on the IllFonic Twitch channel. For now, here’s an older video showcasing the Ectoplast ghost type, including the Pokey, Winky, Brainy, and Slimer variants.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is a solo or team-oriented game depending on if you’re a ghost or a Ghostbuster, and like any of these sorts of games, it will be best played with a group of friends rather than leaving your fate to chance. That’s just the way. Of course, it’s not always easy to rally everyone, and all but the best asymmetric games tend to have a short shelf life. We’ll see how far the Ghostbusters name can go in gaming in 2022.

I will say, this one’s got a far more family-friendly vibe than, say, Dead by Daylight or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which could be enough of an opening to succeed.

Other games in this genre can be so high-stakes. Something about possessing objects and haunting NPCs as a ghost seems less… stressful. Although it’s unlikely to be the ideal way to play, it’s good to know that IllFonic will offer an offline “solo experience.” In the future, when the Spirits Unleashed population inevitably dwindles, that’ll come in handy.

Players have been burned before, so I get any skepticism that might come up. Until we see more, it’s safe to be guarded. October’s the right month for the launch, at any rate.