Ernie Hudson says new Ghostbusters game is "definitely happening"
Following earlier reports that Illfonic is developing.
Actor Ernie Hudson, perhaps better known as Ghostbusters' Winston Zeddemore, has claimed a new video game based on the legendary movie series is "definitely happening".
This isn't the first time we've heard word of a new Ghostbusters game, of course; back in October, Raphael Saadiq, the co-founder of Friday the 13th and Predator: Hunter Grounds developer Illfonic, let slip that the studio was currently working on the title. Unsurprisingly though, given that the game is still yet to be officially announced, Saadiq hasn't offered any update since, leaving movie fans uncertain of the project's status.
And that's where Ernie Hudson comes in; speaking as part of an interview shared on the Countdown City Geeks YouTube channel earlier this week, Hudson revealed he'd only recently been contacted in relation to the game, as preparations begin for recording.
"I just got an e-mail, because we're doing another video game," he explained. "They're scheduling it now to do the recording and I'm not too sure who's going to do it. I know me and [Dan Aykroyd], I think, I'm not sure if [Bill Murray] will do anything on it."
Hudson also revealed he's been providing input on the prototypes for his in-game character, but that the development team "seem to have a hard time" re-creating his image. "It's so weird to me that they can get Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis to look exactly like they look," he continued, "but I end up looking like Eddie Murphy or somebody."
Hudson wasn't able to provide any specifics on the upcoming title - meaning its currently unclear how it might fit into the overall Ghostbusters franchise, which most recently offered up the Jason Reitman directed Ghostbuster: Afterlife - only adding, "When they'll bring it out, I don't know, but definitely it's happening."
Ghostbusters has, of course, had a long - and decidedly uneven - history in the world of videos game. It's appeared in a string of recent mobile games but hasn't had an original new console outing since Activision's lifeless 2016 effort. 2009's well-received Ghostbusters: The Video Game - which brought the original cast back for what was essentially Ghostbusters 3 - was considerably more successful though, even getting a pleasing remaster in 2019.
Assuming a new Ghostbusters game is indeed now in the hands of Illfonic, it'll be interesting to see what the studio comes up with - Friday the 13th was a solidly enjoyable experience, even if Predator: Hunting Grounds was decidedly less so. The studio will have some way to go if it hopes to best David Crane's classic 1984 Ghostbusters effort, however - 37 years later, I still wake up in a cold sweat at night, terrorised by visions of that furiously blinking map.