Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is the newest game from developer IllFonic that’ll pit several Ghostbusters against one player-controlled ghost, but even though this is the first time the studio has worked on a Ghostbusters game, it’s far from the first time they’ve developed an asymmetrical title. They’ve got experience with several other asymmetrical games prior to this one, too, and in an interview with the creators of Spirits Unleashed, they said this probably won’t be the last time they pursue that genre either.
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IllFonic CEO and co-founder Chuck Brungardt and head of creative Jared Gerritzen spoke to ComicBook.com ahead of Spirits Unleashed’s reveal to talk more about the new Ghostbusters game. Predator: Hunting Grounds is another asymmetrical game from IllFonic where well-armed specialists take on an agile Predator, and prior to that, the studio worked on Friday the 13th: The Game supported Evolve. It’s easy to see then how much experience IllFonic has with this sort of game, but Brungardt says even after those projects that the genre is still “early and fresh.”
“We really liked Evolve and were able to experience, I think, asymmetrical at an early age,” Brungardt said when asked how IllFonic felt about other studios pursuing asymmetrical games. “For us, it’s a game mode. When you look at shooter games, there’s similar game modes, there are battle royales where there are similar game modes. Asymmetrical is really just kind of like a game mode alongside that as well, and there’s a lot to do. The genre is relatively early and fresh. It’s probably one of the newer multiplayer genres out there, and so for us, watching it grow and change is really exciting.”
Brungardt continued to suggest IllFonic won’t be leaving this genre behind anytime soon, and as for other studios pursuing this sort of experience, he said it’s exciting to see where asymmetrical games will end up in the future.
“I don’t think – this is our third asymmetrical game, it probably won’t be the last,” Brungardt said. “We want to just continue doing it. So, when you see other games doing that as well, it’s really cool to watch. There were asymmetrical games even before Evolve. There were elements to it in kind of Left 4 Dead and games prior to that, but I think it’s cool to see how far it’s gone, and I think as the genre continues to evolve, we’re going to see it going to just areas we don’t even imagine that I think are going to be insanely fun.”
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is scheduled to release during Q4 2022 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms.
