Summary
- Terrifier: The ARTcade Game is a newly announced beat-em-up based on the eponymous slasher film franchise.
- Inspired by '80s and '90s arcade classics, The ARTcade Game is set to reach the PS5 and PC in 2025.
- The upcoming game has a fairly meta premise in that it will task up to four players with disrupting Terrifier movie sets.
Terrifier is getting an official video game tie-in with a meta premise. Called Terrifier: The ARTcade Game, the newly announced project is currently in development for the PlayStation 5 and PC.
Although the first Terrifier movie premiered in 2016, the slasher film franchise created by Damien Leone dates back to the 2006 short film The 9th Circle, which was the first to introduce Art the Clown. This terrifying villain with a propensity for gruesome murder later went on to appear in the 2013 anthology movie All Hallows' Eve before Mike Giannelli retired from acting. The role then went to David Howard Thornton, who portrayed Art the Clown in Terrifier and its 2022 sequel, the latter of which earned $15.7 million on a $250,000 budget.
Terrifier: Reinventing The Contemporary Slasher
Arthouse slasher Terrifier reinvented what a slasher in the genre should feel like when it comes to defying the laws of cinema.
Terrifier: The ARTcade Game Coming in 2025
The much more ambitious Terrifier 3 premieres in U.S. Theaters later today, October 11. Coinciding with its theatrical release is the announcement of Terrifier: The ARTcade Game, which is currently in development at Bilbao, Spain-based studio Relevo. The project is described as a beat-em-up inspired by a variety of '80s and '90s arcade classics, including Battletoads, Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, and Splatterhouse. Terrifier: The ARTcade Game can already be wishlisted on Steam and will also be coming to the PS5. Publisher SelectaPlay, a label of Spanish multimedia distributor SelectaVision, says that the beat-em-up is currently targeting a 2025 release. No pricing details have yet been shared.
Terrifier: The ARTcade Game Has a Meta Premise
The game itself will have a fairly meta premise, tasking players with stepping into the oversized shoes of Art the Clown in order to disrupt movie sets that are being filmed about his many crimes. To that end, the iconic villain will wreak all sorts of havoc and terrorize everyone from camera operators and makeup artists to stunt performers and police officers. He will do so using a varied assortment of weaponry, power-ups, and bloody finishers. Aside from hordes of squishy enemies, each stage will include a boss fight meant to test the player's skills.
While The ARTcade Game will feature a pixel art aesthetic, the promotional materials that SelectaPlay shared so far suggest that its depictions of violence will be very much in line with the bloodiness of the Terrifier movies. Aside from tackling levels on their own, players will also be able to team up with up to three friends for a local co-op experience. The beat-em-up promises to feature half a dozen modes offering gaming sessions of varying lengths, ranging from quick fights to prolonged challenges.
Relevo's upcoming title will mark Terrifier's second video game foray in recent memory. Namely, Art the Clown has just received a Call of Duty Operator bundle meant to promote the release of Terrifier 3.