Rivian Launches Ghostbusters Halloween Mode 2026

Rivian has released its 2026 Halloween over-the-air software update themed around Ghostbusters, featuring Bill Murray and a real-world Ecto-R1 vehicle. The update, a collaboration with Sony Pictures, began rolling out in October 2026 and introduces extensive cosmetic changes and interactive games to Rivian's vehicle and mobile apps.

Features and Experiences

The update introduces Halloween Mode with custom light shows, soundscapes, a scavenger hunt, an eerie AI voice assistant, and a dedicated in-vehicle Ghostbusters app. Six exterior light shows pair custom LED sequences with their own soundscapes.

Trick or Treat Mode takes over the driver and rear displays, plays the Ghostbusters theme song, and switches exterior lights and sound effects. Motion Mode activates a selected show when someone walks past the vehicle. A scavenger hunt hides characters inside various app screens; finding one triggers an animation and audio.

Rivian Assistant, the company's AI voice assistant, takes on an eerie tone for the season. It can run a light show, read a clue, or play a sound effect on request. A single red toggle in the dedicated Ghostbusters app syncs interior lighting, themed audio, and exterior displays. Opening the app while parked transforms the driver display, with key visual cues remaining during driving.

Owners can run most features from the Rivian mobile app without being in the vehicle. A parked arcade game called 'Mallow Mash' has drivers pop Mini-Puft marshmallow men against the clock. For lock sounds, first-generation R1 vehicles get the Ecto-1 option, while second-generation R1s and the R2 can choose between Ecto-1, Proton Pack, and Chant.

Vehicle and Design Details

The Ecto-R1 show car features 22-inch Aero wheels, red body graphics, No-Ghost logos, and a roof rack with sirens and spotlights mirroring the film car. Rivian modified an R1S to resemble the Ghostbusters' Ectomobile, a vehicle originally based on a 1959 Cadillac. The roof rack, built by Rivian's Special Projects team, carries sirens, spotlights, a radar dish, and side tanks. The 22-inch Aero wheels have white-painted covers and a bright silver finish, a nod to the original car's chrome hub caps.

The Ecto-R1 appears in a short Halloween promotional film by Rivian, directed by Gil Kenan. Bill Murray, an original Ghostbuster, cameos in the spot. "I'm not afraid of no ghosts," Murray said. The builds will be on display at Rivian's spaces in Laguna Beach, Austin, Venice, Miami Brickell, San Francisco, and New York's Meatpacking District, alongside limited-edition merchandise.

Availability and Rollout

Halloween Mode 2026 runs from October 9 to November 2, with staggered rollout favoring Connect+ subscribers, and applies to mobile, watch, and charging station apps. The update is version 2026.36.0 for the R1 and 2026.36.40 for the R2.

Data from tracking site Rivian Roamer shows the update reaching Connect+ subscribers well ahead of other owners. As of the Thursday after release, 74% of tracked vehicles with Connect+ had been offered the update, compared with 8% of those without it. Across all 7,824 R1 and R2 vehicles the site tracks, 68% had been offered the update and 39% had installed it. Rivian Roamer covers only vehicles whose owners link their accounts.

The R2, which reached its first external customers on June 9, is getting Rivian's Halloween treatment for the first time. Version 2026.36.40 brings Rivian Assistant to the R2, which works in English only and requires a Connect+ subscription or trial. R2 owners also get Pet Cam, a live cabin view while Pet Comfort Mode is running, which also requires Connect+. The R2 can now store a custom liftgate opening height.

On the R1, the assistant gains Gmail integration and support for secondary Google calendars. Owners of both models can switch Pet Comfort on remotely from the mobile app.

Context and Comparison

This year's Ghostbusters theme follows prior Halloween updates featuring Knight Rider, Back to the Future, and Swamp Thing, and coincides with Tesla's own Halloween software release. Rivian previously featured David Hasselhoff as a celebrity guest in its Knight Rider-themed update.

Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid wrote in September that Halloween "will be epic this year… and early." Earlier this year, he posted a cryptic string of letters that rearranged into Halloween Mode October Ninth, about two hours after Tesla began rolling out its own Halloween update. Tesla's Halloween Mode, delivered with software version 2026.38.3, began rolling out on October 6.

Previous Rivian Halloween editions became available on October 21 in 2023, October 18 in 2024, and October 21 in 2025. This year's mode will be live for 25 days, compared with 12 days for last year's Spooky Swamp theme. In 2024, Bensaid had to pause the second-generation costumes on their launch day.

Version 2026.31, released on September 4, moved both R1 generations onto RivianOS 2, putting the whole lineup on one software stack with the R2. A Rivian spokesperson said, We wanted to bring the fun of Ghostbusters to life inside the vehicle experience. Halloween Mode is live from October 9 through November 2, spanning 25 days.