Announced at The Game Awards earlier this month, Evil Dead: The Game is the latest in the growing number of co-operative multiplayer game adaptations of beloved horror franchises, joining the likes of Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Grounds. In fact, Evil Dead: The Game isn't even the first of these titles to come from developer Saber Interactive (which is co-developing the title with Boss Team Games,) as the studio also created 2019's World War Z.
While there is very little information available for Evil Dead: The Game, the game is releasing at an interesting point for Sam Raimi's Evil Dead franchise. The game is releasing 3 years after the cancelation of the film series' follow-up TV show, Ash vs. Evil Dead, which itself came two years after a reboot film directed by Fede Alvarez. A new entry in the film series, Evil Dead Rise, has also been announced, although there is very little information about this project as of yet. Despite this, and because of Ash vs. Evil Dead's cliffhanger ending, Evil Dead: The Game has the opportunity to move Ash Williams' story forward, even after actor Bruce Campbell has confirmed his retirement from the role on countless occasions.
What We Know So Far
While Evil Dead: The Game's reveal trailer at The Game Awards 2020 was intentionally vague, there were enough clues to give some idea of how this online multiplayer game intends to portray the Evil Dead franchise. For starters, the trailer reveals Ash Williams, Army of Darkness' Lord Arthur, and Ash vs. Evil Dead's Kelly as playable characters. While Bruce Campbell has confirmed that he is returning to portray Ash Williams once again for the game, it remains to be seen if Marcus Gilbert and Dena DeLorenzo will return to portray Lord Arthur and Kelly, respectively.
This thankfully tells us that characters from the entire Evil Dead series are not off the cards, and that Boss Team Games and Saber Interactive will be able to utilise the full Evil Dead franchise. Ash vs. Evil Dead's first season infamously could not reference Army of Darkness due to legal restrictions, as the film's rights belonged to a separate studio than the previous two Evil Dead films. While we haven't seen any characters from the 2013 reboot film, it's safe to assume it will be referenced in some form in the final game.
Who's In?
Knowing that every entry in the Evil Dead franchise is on the cards for Evil Dead: The Game makes it exciting to speculate who the game can pull from the film franchise. The inclusion of Ash vs. Evil Dead's Kelly makes it very likely that Ray Santiago's character Pablo is also very likely to appear as a playable character in the game, as well as some of Ash's friends and love interests from the original films. Some fans of the franchise would also be excited to see Mia from the Evil Dead reboot, especially since it is implied that the reboot film exists in the same universe as the film and TV series.
The game will also likely feature Deadites from all four of the films and the TV series. Players will be able to control the Deadites just like Jason in Friday the 13th: The Game and the game has been confirmed to include PVP elements, so it is possible that a variety of villains will appear in at least one mode of the game's multiplayer. At the very least, definitely expect an appearance from Ash vs. Evil Dead's Ashy Slashy.
The Future of Evil Dead?
Fans of Evil Dead will know that the finale of Ash vs. Evil Dead left the franchise in a familiar yet frustrating position. Much like the director's cut ending of Army of Darkness, Ash Williams is stranded in an apocalyptic future with no sequel coming to save him, especially if Bruce Campbell is truly done portraying the character. Barring the upcoming Ash-less entry, this leaves Evil Dead: The Game as currently the only possible avenue to see Ash's story continue. Whether the game will however, remains unlikely, given its position as a multiplayer-only competitive game.
Competitive multiplayer games have managed to tell engaging narratives though, and while Evil Dead: The Game may not be the follow-up to Ash vs. Evil Dead season 3 that fans were expecting, it could move the needle for the franchise's narrative enough to lead into an official follow up to Ash's story, though be that through another video game, comic book or even TV show remains to be seen.
If Evil Dead: The Game takes a seasonal approach to its content, it could even give fans clues for what to expect in Evil Dead Rise. While the project has no release date yet, the only information being that Hole in the Ground director Lee Cronin is taking the helm and that the film will be set in a city, as revealed by Bruce Campbell, who is producing the film. Given the game and film's development co-existing, we could very likely see characters from Evil Dead Rise find their way into Evil Dead: The Game upon the film's release and possibly even a map based on the film's Deadite-infested city.
As should be clear by now, this is all speculation, but Evil Dead: The Game's release in this strange transitional period for the franchise means that we could see the biggest Evil Dead cross-over in the franchise's history, tying together the franchise's past, present, and future all at once.
Evil Dead: The Game is set for release on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2021.