Updated: Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Returning As Dutch In New Predator: Hunting Grounds DLC!

Back in March Dutch Schaefer himself revealed that he’d done voice-over work for a new Predator game. Though we’ve all been suspecting it was for Predator: Hunting Grounds, it hasn’t been confirmed until now! Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed that Arnie is returning to the role of Dutch for the first time since the original film!

Starting May 26, players will be able to purchase a DLC that allows gamers to play as Dutch, one of the new Fireteam members, while narration recorded by Schwarzenegger will help shed light on what the character has been up to since the events of director John McTiernan’s original film.

At launch Predator: Hunting Grounds came with 20 unlockable OWLF tapes that found Jake Busey reprise his role as Shaun Keyes, and provide some backstory on the events between Predator 2 and The Predator. Those tapes included some details on what Dutch himself had been up to! It sounds like this new downloadable content will also contain new OWLF tapes that Arnie has recorded!

“The premise of it is [Dutch] recorded these tapes since ’87 after the first movie,” says Jared Gerritzen, the Chief Creative Officer at IllFonic who wrote the new Dutch story. “Throughout these tapes, there are those arrows [pointing to] what he’s doing, kind of like safeguards if he gets killed or captured. These tapes are gonna be used to essentially keep his story going.”

One tape, which EW can also reveal, was recorded by Dutch on Sep. 12, 1987. “These tapes are my personal testimony, insurance,” he says, “Should anything happen to me, what I found won’t be lost.”

Dutch’s tapes will be a free downloadable for all, while the ability to play as Dutch will be paid content. You’ll also get early access to the QR5 “Hammerhead” Rifle and Dutch’s Knife which will be available free for all players later in June.

Unlike Keyes’ recordings though, Dutch’s tapes will be unlocked as you rank up, suggesting perhaps an increase in the game’s level cap. Speaking more on the recordings, Illfonic’s Chief Creative Officer Jared Gerritzen pitched the idea of Dutch’s return to Arnie himself!

Gerritzen, a longtime Predator fan since childhood, found himself pitching the story directly to the man behind Dutch. No pressure. Fortunately, he mentions Schwarzenegger was “super excited about what we did with it.” “It’s crazy being able to play him and having him speak those lines. When we recorded the V.O. for him being the Fireteam member, when he would say a line, it just vibrated in the room. The one-liners that he does in movies are so natural to him. Simple stuff, like him saying, ‘reload,’ it’s Arnold!”

Head on over to Entertainment Weekly to check out the rest of the article! Dutch has been noticeably absent from the Predator franchise since the original. He’s never returned to any of the sequels, and Dutch has been held back from overt mentions in the expanded universe. AvP Galaxy previously wrote about what happened to Dutch following Predator, which you can check out here!

Illfonic has also confirmed that further themed character content is on the way, with additional game modes and weapons being released for free!

Rest assured, the content doesn’t stop with Dutch. We have some really fun stuff in store for the community. We have both free updates and paid DLC coming in the months ahead that will keep you on your toes in the hunt and continue to make the game exciting for everyone. With the free updates we plan to introduce new weapons, game modes, and more. We will share more as we get closer to each content drop. For the various paid DLC you will get access to more themed character packs. Dutch is just the beginning!

Thanks to SuperiorIronman for the link! Make sure you stick with Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest news on Predator: Hunting Grounds! You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien and Predator fans on our forums!