Will Friday the 13th: The Game ever add Pamela Voorhees?

Friday the 13th: The Game has added several new playable Jasons since the game launched last year, but will his mother Pamela Voorhees ever make it in?

“Kill her mommy… kill her!”

Ever since May of last year, I’ve wasted so many hours of my life at Camp Crystal Lake. Playing Friday the 13th: The Game is truly some of the most fun I’ve had in years, and I say that as a lifelong fan of the franchise. The level of accuracy and attention to detail is nothing short of impressive, and the game genuinely feels like a Friday the 13th movie.

With the last update, Roy Burns from A New Beginning finally made his way into the game. Although he’s not technically Jason, Roy’s still very much a part of the series as the killer in the fifth movie. But that same argument can be made for Mrs. Voorhees, who’s revealed to be the killer at the end of the original Friday the 13th. And I know I’m not the only one wondering if the woman who started it all will have her spot in the game as well.

Well, the good news is that the developers have already considered this idea. Back during the game’s original Kickstarter campaign, adding Pamela as a playable killer was one of the stretch goals. It notes that she’d come with her own animation set, as it’s not like she could perform Jason’s kills. Unfortunately, not enough money was raised during the campaign to guarantee Pamela a spot in the game.

via Gun Media

We could’ve gotten all kinds of awesome stuff.

Adding Roy into the game is easy enough. As a Jason Voorhees copycat, the killer paramedic can easily hang with all the other Jasons. Putting Pamela in the game, however, would be a bit more complicated. And last fall, co-creator Wes Keltner addressed the fan demand for the character in a forum post, seemingly killing the idea dead.

According to Keltner, including Mrs. Voorhees would mean redesigning the whole game. Pamela’s killing style in the movie is much different than her son’s, as she prefers the stealthy approach. To accommodate her own unique playstyle, Keltner believes Pamela would need a new map completely designed for her.

"“When the level is created to make Jason’s abilities shine and heighten tension as a counselor…how do you create a killer with NEW abilities? And Pamela’s abilities would need to be grounded in ‘real life.’ She’s a real person after all. Unhinged, but real. Nonetheless, I hope you’re starting to see how much work it would be to add her. We would need a new abilities system just for her. We would need a new map, just for her. We would need to balance her abilities against the counselors abilities to make sure no one gets too much of an upper-hand.”"

While Keltner admits that the team is “not against” the idea, it’s just not very high on their list of priorities. For now, the focus seems to be on adding more maps such as Manhattan and the Grendel, as well as other playable Jasons. This means that Mrs. Voorhees will only be in the game as a severed head in Jason’s shack for the foreseeable future.

Still, I haven’t given up on seeing Betsy Palmer in the game just yet. Perhaps the folks at Gun and Illfonic can revisit the idea after releasing more Jason-centric DLC. Playing Friday the 13th: The Game as Jason (or Roy) is a hell of a lot of fun. But the lifelong fan in me continues to hold out hope for one day playing as Mrs. Voorhees.

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Friday the 13th: The Game is available on Xbox One, PS4, and Steam.