Halloween: The Game, developer IllFonic's multiplayer survival title based on the Halloween film franchise, has removed a minigame in which two players could have their characters retreat to a closet and have sex in exchange for in-game buffs. The game is not yet fully released—it's currently available only through deluxe edition early access—and the minigame was reportedly pulled just days into that early access period via a hotfix.
According to PC Gamer and Kotaku, the removal was not mentioned in the patch's official notes. Players discovered the change on their own, noting on the game's Steam page and subreddit that the feature was gone. PC Gamer also reported that Lynda, a flirty playable civilian character who previously received extra benefits tied to the sex minigame, has had that trait removed as well.
Reaction from players has reportedly been negative. PC Gamer cited a Reddit user who called the removal "Lame as hell," and noted a subreddit thread titled "Please add back sex mini game" gaining traction, including a post questioning why the feature was removed. On Steam, one user reportedly repeated a request to "ADD BACK THE CLOSET MINIGAME" five times in a row.
Both PC Gamer and Kotaku link the removal to a specific concern: the game's roster includes underage playable characters, such as 17-year-old Laurie Strode (per PC Gamer) and 17-year-old Annie Brackett (per Kotaku), alongside adult characters like Samuel Loomis, who is 56 years old and modeled after the late actor Donald Pleasence. Kotaku reported that players on X had flagged the mechanic, with one user's post highlighting concern over the older character's likeness being paired with a teenager in-game. Kotaku also noted that dead players in the game can respawn as other characters, including police officers or Loomis, which PC Gamer said raised concerns about those characters potentially soliciting sex from a high schooler-aged character.
Neither IllFonic's Discord nor its social media accounts have addressed the minigame's removal, according to Kotaku. PC Gamer said IllFonic has not confirmed that the underage-character issue was the reason for the change, though the outlet said it struggled to imagine a more convincing explanation. Both PC Gamer and Kotaku reported reaching out to IllFonic for comment, with PC Gamer noting its story would be updated if a response is received. Kotaku also questioned why the issue wasn't caught during quality assurance testing before the game's early access launch, and suggested the developers could potentially reintroduce a modified version of the minigame in the future.