Halloween: The Game Silently Removes Closet Minigame Ahead of Launch
The studio removed the minigame without a patch note, and the community speculates it was tied to the minigame being usable by older characters in a game with minor characters, though IllFonic has not confirmed a reason.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
IllFonic's asymmetric horror game Halloween: The Game dropped its closet minigame in a hotfix delivered September 6, the day after early access began. The minigame let two players enter a closet and complete a timing game with heart marks for a buff. The patch notes do not mention the change, and IllFonic has not explained it. The game launches September 9 on PC and Xbox Series X|S.
The patch notes for Early Access Hotfix 1 list crash fixes, challenge corrections, and an offline play login queue issue, plus a fix for Michael's downed display and an Xbox Series S performance mode rendering problem. The closet minigame is not among them.
Players who died could rejoin a match as a police officer or Dr. Loomis, and those older characters could use the minigame. The game includes minor characters, which the community has flagged as a possible reason for the removal. IllFonic has not said whether the minigame is temporarily pulled or gone for good. The PS5 version was canceled in Japan after failing to obtain a CERO rating.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.