Developers nDreams have officially unveiled Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord and announced that the virtual reality game will release in 2023. Sony Pictures Virtual Reality will be producing the game, with Dan Aykroyd’s Ghost Corps team overseeing the latest entry in the Ghostbusters universe.
Previously announced as Ghostbusters VR at the Meta Quest Game Showcase in April, players will be able to take on the mantle of a new recruit in San Francisco who is learning the ropes to becoming the latest paranormal investigator when the game releases for both Meta Quest 2 and PlayStation VR2 next year.
The latest entry in the Ghostbusters universe comes hot off the heels of Ghostbusters Afterlife, the 2021 reboot/continuation of the long-running franchise. Rise of the Ghost Lord will see a new cast of characters pick up their proton packs as they start life in the Californian metropolis. The titular Ghost Lord and his malevolent horde will be haunting iconic locations such as the Golden Gate Bridge, and it is up to the player to bust the impending threat. The adventure can be played either solo or as a co-op adventure, but it is currently unknown if the VR title will support cross-play.
Rise of the Ghost Lord’s location might be different from the New York location that fans of the series will be used to, but nDreams have stacked the game full of iconic Ghostbusters equipment such as the legendary proton packs and P.K.E meters that can be upgraded throughout the story. Players can also expect a number of customizable options when creating their character so that die-hard fans have the opportunity to recreate themselves in-game.
The next virtual reality entry in the nearly forty-year-old franchise follows the well-received Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, the asymmetrical multiplayer that was released earlier in the year. Spirits Unleashed acts more as a love letter to the series, focusing on the cat-and-mouse gameplay as a team of four players tries to hunt out and capture a single ghost.
These two games aren’t the only things fans can get excited about as the franchise is set to further expand with a currently untitled Ghostbusters Afterlife sequel set for a holiday 2023 release and an animated Netflix show currently in the works. With all of this content coming thick and fast, it is certainly an exciting time for Ghostbusters fans, but they will be cautious that the quality of Rise of the Ghost Lord will be able to live up to what has gone before it.
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord will release for Meta Quest 2 and PlayStation VR2 in 2023.