Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is beloved on the internet. The fun asymmetrical gameplay that lets you be a ghost and mess with your friends and the developer team’s community outreach has worked in tandem to create a hit.
The Cosmic Circus had the chance to sit down over Zoom with Ilfonic’s COO Jared Gerritzen and audio lead Sophia Leader. Gerritzen is a game industry veteran with 25 years of experience. Sophia Leader’s immersive sound design is grounded in her film and television experience at the iconic Pinewood Studios.
We chatted with Gerritzen and Leader about honoring the original Ghostbusters IP, how the company pitched ultimately got the project, along with plans and their favorite playable ghosts. We even asked if there were any plans to include The Scoleri Brothers in future DLC.
You can catch our interview on The Cosmic Cafe below or on most apps where podcasts are available.
Interview – Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
Timestamps:
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- 00:30 – Intros
- 02:25 – How did you start the process of adapting IP for this game?
- 06:00 – What made you excited to work on a Ghostbusters game?
- 07:20 – Reaction of fans to Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
- 10:30 – How did you bring the ghosts to life?
- 12:00 – What did you learn from working on the Predator: Hunting Grounds game that you applied to Ghostbusters?
- 16:00 – Working with Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd.
- 17:25 – How is working on audio in film different from video games?
- 19:00 – Talk about the growing Ghostbusters game community and plans for the future.
- 23:00 – Are there plans to add more ghosts, will the Scoleri Brothers appear?
- 24:50 – Talk about other games they’re working on at Illfonic
- 26:00 – Do you play as a ghost or a Ghostbuster?
- 28:20 – Outros
Illfonic’s bona fides
Illfonic (official site illfonic.com) has some serious credentials in the gaming world. Their catalog has been growing since it was founded in 2007 by Raphael Saadiq, Charles Brunghardt, and Kedhrin Gonzales. They’re the indie game studio responsible for titles like Predator: Hunting Grounds and Arcadegeddon.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is another hit for them. Saadiq’s name may be familiar as a mega-talented executive music producer on Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. (You can check out our Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur interviews if you’re curious about that project.)
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed was announced by Illfonic a year ago today, and since it’s been out, it has had a loyal cadre of gamers and fans. It takes place in the world after Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Voice talent in the game includes the legendary actors Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson. Players are either Ghostbusters or ghosts. The gameplay is asymmetrical multiplayer, which means you can gang up against your friends, or they can gang up against you. It’s described catchily as “hunt or haunt.”
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is available to play however you like to buy video games. In January, Illfonic released a free game DLC that included some neat features. The DLC added a new map, the ghost Muncher from the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and some other nifty features. The DLC is available for free after you have the game. So grab the game and suit up with your own PKE meter or get ready to haunt with some spectral minions.
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