Dr. Samuel Loomis has spent nearly fifty years trying to stop Michael Myers.
Days before Halloween: The Game hit full release, players in the early access window discovered that the game’s Two-Person Power-Up minigame was not checking who it let participate. That included Loomis. Clips went around. IllFonic pulled the minigame out of the game in a hotfix, and then explained why.
What the Two-Person Power-Up actually was
The mechanic was straightforward and, on paper, a fairly obvious slasher joke. Two civilian characters could climb into a closet together. Players mashed a button until a heart meter filled. Nothing was shown on screen. There was audio, and then it was over, and then you went back to being hunted.
It fit the source material. The 1978 film is built partly on the idea that the teenagers most occupied with each other are the ones least likely to notice a man standing outside. Turning that into a two-player button prompt is a joke the franchise arguably set up itself.
The problem was never the joke.
The Loomis problem
The Standard Edition of Halloween: The Game launches with ten playable Civilians. Six are new characters. Four are pulled straight out of the original movie: Bob Simms, Lynda van der Klok, Annie Brackett and Laurie Strode, all high school students in the 1978 film. The Digital Deluxe Edition adds Richard and Alexis for twelve.
Loomis is not one of those ten. He works differently. As GamesRadar’s guide lays out, civilians can activate a CB radio during a match, which starts a reinforcements countdown. When it lands, the first player who died comes back as Loomis. He is the game’s Tommy Jarvis, essentially. A second chance with a revolver and an opinion about evil.
Which means Loomis is a playable character on the civilian side. And the minigame appears to have been gated to the civilian side rather than to a specific list of characters.
So a player who died as one of the teenagers could respawn as the middle aged psychiatrist chasing Michael Myers and then walk into a closet with a teenager. Somebody recorded it. That was that.
Donald Pleasence, who originated the role and spent five films screaming at anyone who would listen that Michael needed to be locked up, is not around to comment.
What IllFonic said
The developer addressed the removal directly on social. The statement, quoted by Bloody Disgusting and NME among others, reads:
“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.”
Be precise about what that means, because coverage has muddled it. Rather than restrict reinforcement characters from participating, IllFonic removed the minigame entirely ahead of launch. All of it, for everyone. The reinforcement issue is the stated reason, not the scope of the fix.
The studio has not said whether the minigame returns. “More content and minigames coming” is doing a lot of work in that sentence and does not specifically promise this one.
The actual story
This does not read as a provocation. Nothing about it suggests anyone at IllFonic sat down and decided Loomis should be an option. It reads like an eligibility problem rather than an intentionally provocative design choice. IllFonic says the unintended issue allowed end game reinforcement characters to engage with a minigame they apparently were never meant to access.
The question that would have caught it is not a complicated one. It is four words long.
Should Loomis be included?
Players got there first.