Dead by Daylight

Dead by Daylight
Developer(s)	Behaviour Interactive
Publisher(s)	505 Games Behaviour Interactive Deep Silver NetEase Games Starbreeze Studios
Director(s)	Ashley Pannell Dave Richard Mathieu Coté
Producer(s)	Stéfan Beauchamp-Daniel
Programmer(s)	Fadi Beyrouti Jean-Philip Desjardins Rémi Veilleux
Artist(s)	Filip Ivanovic Marc Salha
Writer(s)	Farah Daoud-Brixi
Composer(s)	Michel F. April
Engine	Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One Nintendo Switch Android iOS Stadia PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X|S
Release	Microsoft Windows WW: June 14, 2016 PlayStation 4, Xbox One NA: June 20, 2017 AU: June 22, 2017 EU: June 23, 2017 Nintendo Switch WW: September 24, 2019 Android, iOS WW: April 17, 2020 Stadia WW: October 1, 2020 Xbox Series X/S WW: November 10, 2020 PlayStation 5 NA: November 12, 2020 EU: November 19, 2020
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric multiplayer survival horror online game developed by Canadian studio Behaviour Interactive. It is a one-versus-four game in which one player takes on the role of a Killer and the other four play as Survivors; the Killer must impale each Survivor on sacrificial hooks to appease a malevolent force known as the Entity, while the Survivors have to avoid being caught and power up the exit gates by working together to fix five generators. Alongside original characters, the game licenses characters and settings from franchises such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Attack on Titan, Crypt TV, Evil Dead, Halloween, Hellraiser, Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil, Ringu, Saw, Silent Hill, Stranger Things, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The game was released for Microsoft Windows in 2016; PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2017; Nintendo Switch in 2019; and Android, iOS, PlayStation 5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X/S in 2020. Swedish studio Starbreeze Studios published the game from 2016 through 2018, when Behaviour Interactive bought the publishing rights. Italian company 505 Games published the Nintendo Switch version, while Austrian company Deep Silver published physical copies for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. In 2020, Behaviour Interactive published the mobile versions. Then, in December 2022, they removed mobile versions from storefront and partnered with NetEase Games to develop and publish improved mobile versions, which are released in March 2023. The game received mixed reviews upon release, though it was a commercial success and has since attracted more than 500 million players.

Gameplay

A player (center) repairing a generator with a toolbox, with another Survivor on the right

Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical horror game where one player is the Killer and the other four are Survivors. The Survivors' objective is to escape the map by repairing five of seven generators scattered throughout it to power the two exit gates. The Killer must impale all Survivors on hooks before they escape, which will cause them to be sacrificed to a malevolent force known as the Entity. If only one Survivor remains, an escape hatch opens. If the Killer closes the hatch or an exit gate is opened, the "Endgame Collapse" begins and the Survivors must escape within two minutes.

When hunting Survivors, the Killer must capture them by either striking them with their weapon (one strike injures Survivors and a second strikes puts them into a dying state) or by grabbing them in one move by catching them unexpectedly. Although Survivors can attempt to escape the hook the first time they are impaled, success is unlikely. They can also be saved by other Survivors. If they are hooked a second time, they enter a "struggle phase", where they must resist the Entity as it attempts to take them out of the game by performing skill checks until they are either killed or rescued. If they are hooked a third time, they will be sacrificed to the Entity.

The Survivors' movement options consist of sprinting, walking, crouch-walking, or crawling. They must elude the Killer by losing their line of sight in a chase or by successfully hiding from them. Most Killers can only move at a pace that is moderately faster than that of a sprinting Survivor. However, the Killer is slower in other movements, such as vaulting obstacles. With some exceptions, Killers cannot leap over obstacles that Survivors can throw down into their path and must instead go around them or destroy them. The Killer also has an aura-reading ability, constantly revealing the location of generators, hooks, and sometimes Survivors. Every Killer has their own unique power. For instance, the Wraith can turn invisible and move faster (though is unable to strike Survivors while hidden) and the Hillbilly wields a chainsaw which allows him to dash quickly along the map and instantly knock down any Survivors in his path. These powers can be altered using add-ons obtained through gameplay.

Survivors can search chests to find useful items, such as maps, keys, toolboxes, med-kits, and flashlights. Most Killers have an innate "terror radius" that surrounds them. Survivors inside the radius will hear a heartbeat, which increases in intensity with proximity to the Killer. They can also see a red light (called the "red stain") emanating from the Killer's head onto the ground, which reveals the direction they are facing and can help the Survivors determine when the Killer is about to come around a corner. Some Killers have the ability to suppress their terror radius and red stain under certain conditions, enabling them to surprise unaware Survivors.

Objectives

Survivor interactions with many objects in the game can cause random skill checks to trigger. The player can either perform a good skill check which has no consequence, a great skill check which speeds up the progression of the action the player is taking, or a bad skill check which usually notifies the Killer of the Survivor's location and may also cause a loss of progress. Great skill checks require more precision, and may not always be possible depending on the type of interaction or the perks being used by either the Survivor or the Killer. Killers have the ability to damage generators, which will slowly regress their repair progress over time until a Survivor resumes repairing it.

If the Killer catches a Survivor, the Killer can pick them up and carry them to one of many sacrificial hooks scattered throughout the map. While being carried, the Survivor can attempt to wiggle out of the Killer's grasp before they reach the hook and then run away. If the Killer succeeds in impaling a Survivor on a hook, a teammate can rescue the impaled Survivor or, more rarely, the impaled Survivor (with a 4% chance) can rescue themselves from the hook. Self-rescue is only possible the first time a Survivor is hooked.

Once five generators are repaired, a Survivor must find a switch next to one of two exit gates and hold it for twenty seconds in order to open the door. The game only ends when all Survivors have either escaped or have been killed; thus, while some Survivors may escape and finish early, those still inside must keep playing. Players who have escaped or died have the ability to observe the remaining players through the game's conclusion or return to the menu and join a new game.

If only one Survivor remains, repairing generators is usually not practical. Regardless of whether the other three Survivors escaped or were killed, an open escape hatch will appear in a random location. If the Survivor finds this hatch first, they can escape through it, but if the Killer finds it first, then they can close it. If the Killer closes the hatch, the two exit gates become powered as though the generator objective was completed, allowing the remaining Survivor one final way to escape the trial. If one of the Survivors possesses a special kind of key, either obtained from a chest in the trial or brought into the trial, they can open the hatch and escape. Otherwise, the hatch will remain closed, opening automatically when only one Survivor remains in the trial.

Perks

Survivors and Killers each have the option to use up to four perks in their load-out, which gives their characters special abilities. Perks differ between Survivors and Killers; a Survivor perk may not be used by Killers and vice versa. Survivor perks include a burst of speed when running from the Killer (sprint-burst), the ability to self-heal without a first aid kit (self-care), sabotaging meat hooks without a toolbox (saboteur), and many more. Killer perks include seeing Survivors' auras, hindering their struggle time while being taken to a hook (iron-grasp), locking down generators to prevent them from being worked on (corrupt-intervention), and many more.

There are a number of "general perks" that start unlocked for any character to learn. Additionally, each specific character starts off with a set of three perks that are unique to them. Perks, add-ons, and items can be unlocked through the Bloodweb, a skill tree where each character can spend in-game currency. Advancing to level 50 in a character's Bloodweb allows the player to "prestige" that particular character. Doing so resets the character back to level 0, keeps all previously earned perks, add-ons, and items, and unlocks tiers 1-3 of the character's unique perks to every single other character owned of the same role.

Characters

Survivors

Players may assume the role of one of the 36 Survivors: some of these characters have been created specifically for the game, some are licensed from other horror franchises.

Survivor characters in Dead by Daylight

Survivor	License	Description
Dwight Fairfield	Original	A nervous leader.
Meg Thomas		An energetic athlete.
Claudette Morel		A studious botanist.
Jake Park		A solitary survivalist.
Nea Karlsson		An urban artist.
Laurie Strode	Halloween	A determined babysitter.
Ace Visconti	Original	A lucky gambler.
Bill Overbeck	Left 4 Dead	An old soldier.
Feng Min	Original	A focused competitor.
David King		A rugged scrapper.
Quentin Smith	A Nightmare on Elm Street	A resolute dreamwalker.
David Tapp	Saw	An obsessed detective.
Kate Denson	Original	A hopeful songbird.
Adam Francis		A resourceful teacher.
Jeff Johansen		A quiet artist.
Jane Romero		An influential celebrity.
Ash Williams	Evil Dead	An alone wolf. [sic]
Nancy Wheeler	Stranger Things	An aspiring journalist.
Steve Harrington		A former jock.
Yui Kimura	Original	A hardened streetracer.
Zarina Kassir		A plucky documentarian
Cheryl Mason	Silent Hill	A young veteran of terror.
Felix Richter	Original	A visionary architect.
Elodie Rakoto		An occult investigator.
Yun-Jin Lee		A self-interested music producer.
Jill Valentine	Resident Evil	A founder of S.T.A.R.S.
Leon S. Kennedy		A rookie police officer.
Mikaela Reid	Original	A young mystic.
Jonah Vasquez		A mathematical mastermind.
Yoichi Asakawa	Ring	A brilliant marine biologist.
Haddie Kaur	Original	A brave podcaster.
Ada Wong	Resident Evil	A mysterious secret agent.
Rebecca Chambers		A gifted medic and squad member.
Vittorio Toscano	Original	An endless wanderer.
Thalita Lyra
Renato Lyra

Additionally, eight legendary skins have been added which turn their respective Survivor into alternate Survivor characters.

Legendary survivor characters from Dead by Daylight

Legendary Survivor	License	Original Survivor
Lisa Garland	Silent Hill	Cheryl Mason
Cybil Bennett
James Sunderland
Jonathan Byers	Stranger Things	Steve Harrington
Chris Redfield	Resident Evil	Leon S. Kennedy
Carlos Oliveira
Claire Redfield		Jill Valentine
Sheva Alomar

While these are not legendary skins, these outfits give original Survivors appearances reminiscent of licensed characters from other series.

Survivor character outfits from Dead by Daylight

Character Outfit	License	Original Survivor
Francis	Left 4 Dead	Jake Park
Zoey		Meg Thomas
Ellis		Dwight Fairfield
Rochelle		Claudette Morel
Eren Yeager	Attack on Titan	Dwight Fairfield
Mikasa Ackerman		Yui Kimura
Levi Ackerman		Jake Park
Annie Leonhart		Meg Thomas
Armin Arlert		Felix Richter
Historia Reiss		Kate Denson
Hange Zoë		Zarina Kassir
Kenny Ackerman		Ace Visconti
S.T.A.R.S. Uniform	Resident Evil	Felix Richter
Jill Cosplay		Feng Min
Princess Heart cosplay	Silent Hill	Feng Min

Killers

Players may assume the role of one of the 31 Killers, some original and some licensed. Each Killer has a power that is unique to them.

Killers in Dead by Daylight

Killer		License	Power Description
Killer Name	Name
The Trapper	Evan MacMillan	Original	Sets bear traps to catch and injure Survivors. These traps can be disarmed by Survivors.
The Wraith	Philip Ojomo		Rings his bell to gain increased movement speed and near-invisiblity at the cost of being unable to attack Survivors.
The Hillbilly	Max Thompson Jr.		Sprints with his chainsaw that instantly puts Survivors into the dying state. Repeatedly revving the chainsaw can cause it to overheat, making it unusable for a short time.
The Nurse	Sally Smithson		Teleports a significant distance through obstacles at the cost of heavily reduced base movement speed. Doing so incurs an extensive fatigue.
The Shape	Michael Myers	Halloween	Stalks Survivors to temporarily be able to instantly put Survivors into the dying state.
The Hag	Lisa Sherwood	Original	Places traps which can be teleported to when a Survivor gets close to them.
The Doctor	Herman Carter		Gradually makes Survivors build madness by electrically shocking them, making skillchecks more difficult and revealing fake projections of the Killer. Shocking Survivors also temporarily disables their ability to use obstacles to impede the Killer's path.
The Huntress	Anna		Throws hatchets to injure Survivors from afar.
The Cannibal	"Leatherface" Sawyer	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre	Uses his chainsaw for increased movement speed and a sweeping attack that instantly puts Survivors into the dying state.
The Nightmare	Freddy Krueger	A Nightmare on Elm Street	Survivors slowly fall asleep over time. The Nightmare can place snares or fake pallets to hinder sleeping Survivors and can teleport to generators at will. His terror radius is hidden from sleeping Survivors, replaced with a faint lullaby.
The Pig	Amanda Young	Saw	Places reverse bear traps onto Survivors, which will instantly kill them after a period of time if not removed. Also can crouch down, hiding her terror radius and giving her an ambush attack with a long range.
The Clown	Kenneth Chase / "Jeffrey Hawk"	Original	Throws either bottles of poison gas to slow Survivors and blur their vision, or bottles of an antidote that increases the movement speed of both the Survivors and The Clown.
The Spirit	Rin Yamaoka		Travels quickly through an alternate dimension where she cannot see Survivors, but can see other environmental cues such as scratch marks or moving grass. Survivors cannot see The Spirit when she does this.
The Legion	Frank Morrison, Julie Kostenko, Susie Lavoie, and Joey		Activates their frenzy, granting the ability to move faster and vault over obstacles. Hitting Survivors during the frenzy applies a bleedout timer, reveals the location of other nearby Survivors, and increases the frenzy's movement speed. After hitting four Survivors in one frenzy, the next frenzy attack will instantly put any Survivor into the dying state.
The Plague	Adiris		Infects Survivors and interactable objects by vomiting on them. Survivors can cleanse this infection at pools around the map. Once cleansed, the pool becomes corrupted, which can grant The Plague a more deadly version of her vomit which deals damage to Survivors.
The Ghost Face	Danny Johnson ("Jed Olsen")	Ghostface	Enters the night shroud in order to hide his terror radius and to stalk Survivors. Fully stalked Survivors can be put into the dying state instantly. Survivors can deactivate this ability by looking at The Ghost Face. Fully stalked Survivors cannot do this.
The Demogorgon	—	Stranger Things	Traverses the map through portals and use an extended lunge attack. Survivors near portals can be detected by The Demogorgon.
The Oni	Kazan Yamaoka	Original	Consumes the blood of Survivors to charge a dash attack that can instantly put them into the dying state.
The Deathslinger	Caleb Quinn		Shoots Survivors with a speargun to reel them towards himself.
The Executioner	Pyramid Head	Silent Hill	With his sword, The Executioner may attack short distances through obstructions as well as leave trails on the ground. Survivors who walk on these trails become tormented and can be sent to cages or instantly killed.
The Blight	Talbot Grimes	Original	Bounces into walls at a high speed to hit Survivors more easily at the cost of reduced range of motion.
The Twins	Charlotte and Victor Deshayes		A pair of conjoined twins who can detach from the other. One twin, Victor, has a faster movement speed and an extended lunge attack. He also notifies Charlotte, the other twin, of Survivors who are near him.
The Trickster	Ji-Woon Hak		Throws knives to slowly injure Survivors from afar. Injuring Survivors with knives unlocks Main Event that allows the Trickster to throw his knives at a faster rate.
The Nemesis	Nemesis T-Type	Resident Evil	Uses his tentacle to infect Survivors with the T-virus. Infected Survivors will take damage if hit by his tentacle again. AI zombies also roam the map which infect Survivors as well.
The Cenobite	Elliot Spencer / "Pinhead"	Hellraiser	Binds Survivors with chains, reducing their movement speed until they break free. The Lament Configuration also controls the Chain Hunt, a time where more chains bind Survivors.
The Artist	Carmina Mora	Original	Projects dire crows which can be sent across the map to detect and injure Survivors.
The Onryō	Sadako Yamamura	Ringu	Able to de-manifest her corporeal form to become stealthy and teleport to TVs around the map. Survivors near a TV when she teleports to it can become Condemned. Condemned Survivors can be killed instantly. Survivors can use video tapes to turn off TVs and remove Condemned's effects.
The Dredge	—	Original	Able to teleport to lockers around the map and power up Nightfall by hitting and hooking Survivors. Nightfall makes the map considerably darker for all Survivors and allows the Dredge to teleport to lockers faster and more frequently. Survivors can lock lockers to slow the Dredge down, but these locks can be broken.
The Mastermind	Albert Wesker	Resident Evil	Uses the Uroboros virus to quickly lunge a short distance, vaulting over obstacles and infecting any Survivors that he hits. Infection builds over time, eventually hindering Survivors. Also grabs Survivors on contact, either dealing damage if they are slammed into an object or throwing them.
The Knight	Taros Kovács	Original	Directs 3 AI guards (the Carnifex, the Assassin, and the Jailor) to patrol the map, hunt survivors, or break objects.
The Skull Merchant	Adriana Imai		Places drones on the map to detect, track, and expose survivors.

Additionally, twelve legendary and ultra-rare skins have been added which turn their respective Killers into alternate Killer characters.

Legendary killers in Dead by Daylight

Legendary Killer	License	Original Killer
The Minotaur	Original	The Oni
The Krampus		The Trapper
The Look-See	Crypt TV	The Doctor
The Mordeo		The Huntress
The Ferryman	Original	The Blight
The Chatterer	Hellraiser	The Cenobite
The Baba Yaga	Original	The Huntress
The Armored Titan	Attack on Titan	The Oni
The War Hammer Titan		The Spirit
The Hunk	Resident Evil	The Legion
The Mutant		The Blight
The Jabberwocky	Alice In Wonderland	The Artist

Setting

Maps

The game takes place across 18 realms, which contain one or more maps. These are based on places related to the Killer of each map's respective chapter: the MacMillan Estate (Trapper and Skull Merchant), Crotus Prenn Asylum (Nurse and Clown), Autohaven Wreckers (Wraith), Coldwind Farm (Hillbilly), Haddonfield (Shape), Backwater Swamp (Hag), Léry's Memorial Institute (Doctor), the Red Forest (Huntress and Plague), Springwood (Nightmare), Gideon Meat Plant (Pig), Yamaoka Estate (Spirit and Oni), Ormond (Legion), Grave of Glenvale (Deathslinger), Midwich Elementary School (Executioner), Raccoon City (Nemesis), Forsaken Boneyard (Artist), Withered Isle (Dredge), and Shattered Square (Knight). The Cannibal, Ghost Face, Blight, Twins, Trickster, Cenobite, Onryō, and Mastermind did not receive maps. Over time, the level of evil of each Killer's actions accumulated there until it attracted the attention of the Entity, an unknown force of darkness from a place with no name. Most realms are split into multiple maps with similar features but small variations.

Most maps features a map-specific building or landmark that remains in the same place in the map every game. Most maps also feature a building known as the "Killer shack", which is the same throughout all maps and appears in one of a few predetermined locations. Every new game, a room known as the "basement" is placed in one of several predetermined locations, which includes the Killer shack (if present). The basement is a special room consisting of one item chest for the Survivors to scavenge in and four lockers for them to hide in. It is also home to a special four-pointed hook that cannot be destroyed or tampered with in any way by Survivors. The basement only has one way in and out, making it a very secure place for a Killer to bring their victims without fear of other Survivors saving them.

Premise

A group of four Survivors must elude one Killer bent on sacrificing them on hooks to a malevolent being called the Entity. The Survivors' perspectives are third-person, while the Killer's perspective is first-person. The Survivors can only fight back by stunning the Killer or using items such as flashlights to blind them. Survivors can also vault over obstacles much faster than the Killer, providing a means of escape. Survivors use these obstacles and tools to help them elude the Killer for as long as they can. In order to escape, Survivors must repair five of the seven generators scattered across the map to power up the exit gates. They must then open the exit gates and escape through them; the final Survivor may also find an unmarked escape hatch to jump into, though the hatch can be shut if the Killer finds it first. Repairing generators can be made quicker with items such as toolboxes, or if the player repairs a generator alongside other Survivors, or if certain perks are equipped to help the process along.

Plot

The Entity, a supernatural being hailing from the ancient Bloodweb, is awakened from its slumber and summoned by actions of great violence and malice. The Killers, mostly serial murderers or victims of terrible tragedy, are pulled out of reality by the Entity and convinced or forced to do its bidding. In order to maintain its existence, the Entity requires sacrifices and demands that they hunt and kill the Survivors so it can feed off their hope and steal a piece of their souls upon death. In order to continue this hunt, the Entity blocks off the gateways of death and puts the Survivors into a dreamlike state that leads them back to the Entity's purgatory-esque world to get hunted again.

The Survivors are pulled into the Entity's constructed world when they wander too close to the places the Killers were taken from, disappearing from the real world without a trace. They end up at a campfire in the woods, where they rest between trials until a Killer pursues them again. Each trial takes place in a series of realms constructed by the Entity of areas related to each Killer's history. Escaping from the grounds always takes the Survivors back to the campfire, and offerings can be created to be burnt at it and appeal to the Entity. Since the Entity feeds off of Survivors' hopes of escaping, it helps them just as much as it helps Killers, acting as an impartial observer of the hunt and stepping in only to claim those successfully sacrificed to it.

Downloadable content

As of February 2023, the game has featured 31 individual DLC releases in total. Each DLC has included both a new Survivor and Killer, except for six where only one character was introduced (Bill Overbeck from Left 4 Dead, Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Ash Williams from Evil Dead, Fun World's version of Ghostface, Pinhead from Hellraiser, and the original character Mikaela Reid) and four where three characters were introduced (Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, and the Demogorgon from Stranger Things; Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, and the Nemesis from Resident Evil; Ada Wong, Rebecca Chambers, and Albert Wesker from Resident Evil; and original characters Thalita Lyra, Renato Lyra, and the Skull Merchant from Tools of Torment). 21 of the DLCs released have also introduced new maps that are accessible to all players. The DLCs release with an average of three months between each one. Prior to the release of every DLC since the Clown, a Public Test Build (PTB) is opened, which allows the developers of the game to test and receive community feedback on the major upcoming changes. Once the PTB has been out for roughly two weeks, it is disabled for further maintenance on the upcoming DLC, such as bug fixing, adding missing features, etc. The estimated time span between the opening of the PTB and a new DLC's release is approximately 2–3 weeks, and the DLC typically releases a few days after the shutdown of the PTB.

13 of the currently released DLCs have featured licensed Killers and Survivors from both popular horror franchises and other video games. The DLCs can be acquired by either purchasing them normally through Steam or non-licensed characters can be purchased through a shop within the game using an in-game currency called iridescent shards. This alternative way of obtaining the DLCs was introduced in the 2.0 update. Each DLC has its own trailer and a so-called "spotlight" that exhibits the Killer and Survivor as well as a new in-game map. The relevant DLC does not need to be purchased in order for any map to be played on. Three DLCs (The Last Breath, Left Behind, and A Lullaby for the Dark) have been distributed for free.

In August 2021, Behaviour announced that the Stranger Things DLC (including individual characters from the DLC and their cosmetics) would no longer be available for purchase from November 17 and that the Hawkins National Laboratory map would be removed from rotation. All characters from the DLC, as well as their cosmetics, can still be used by players who purchased them before the removal date.

In October 2021, Behaviour collaborated with Boss Protocol to release the Pinhead character model from the Hellraiser DLC as an NFT as part of the Boss Protocol Masters of Horror NFT collection. This led to criticism from players, with Steam reviews of the DLC falling down to a "Mostly Negative" rating.

In addition to DLCs, other collaborations have resulted in purely cosmetic items being added to existing characters. Collaborations with Crypt TV and Attack on Titan added cosmetic items to original characters in order to make them resemble characters from those franchises. Other cosmetic items have been added from titles such as For Honor And Meet Your Maker. Similarly, original Dead by Daylight characters have appeared in other video games including For Honor, Deathgarden, and Move or Die.

Key

• † This symbol denotes DLCs that unveiled licensed characters

Downloadable content for Dead by Daylight

Title	Release Date	Killer	Survivor(s)	Map
The Last Breath	August 18, 2016	The Nurse	Nea Karlsson	The Asylum (Crotus Prenn Asylum)
Halloween †	October 25, 2016	The Shape	Laurie Strode	Lampkin Lane (Haddonfield)
Of Flesh and Mud	December 8, 2016	The Hag	Ace Visconti	The Pale Rose (Backwater Swamp)
Left Behind †	March 8, 2017	—	William "Bill" Overbeck	—
Spark of Madness	May 11, 2017	The Doctor	Feng Min	Treatment Theatre (Léry's Memorial Institute)
A Lullaby for the Dark	July 27, 2017	The Huntress	David King	Mother's Dwelling (Red Forest)
Leatherface †	September 14, 2017	The Cannibal	—	The Grim Pantry (Backwater Swamp)
A Nightmare on Elm Street †	October 26, 2017	The Nightmare	Quentin Smith	Badham Preschool (Springwood)
Saw †	January 23, 2018	The Pig	David Tapp	The Game (Gideon Meat Plant)
Curtain Call	June 12, 2018	The Clown	Kate Denson	Father Campbell's Chapel (Crotus Prenn Asylum)
Shattered Bloodline	September 18, 2018	The Spirit	Adam Francis	Family Residence (Yamaoka Estate)
Darkness Among Us	December 11, 2018	The Legion	Jeffrey "Jeff" Johansen	Mount Ormond Resort (Ormond)
Demise of the Faithful	March 19, 2019	The Plague	Jane Romero	Temple of Purgation (Red Forest)
Ash vs Evil Dead †	April 2, 2019	—	Ashley "Ash" Williams	—
Ghost Face †	June 18, 2019	The Ghost Face	—	—
Stranger Things †	September 17, 2019[a]	The Demogorgon	Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler	Underground Complex (Hawkins National Laboratory)[a]
Cursed Legacy	December 3, 2019	The Oni	Yui Kimura	Sanctum of Wrath (Yamaoka Estate)
Chains of Hate	March 10, 2020	The Deathslinger	Zarina Kassir	Dead Dawg Saloon (Grave of Glenvale)
Silent Hill †	June 16, 2020	The Executioner	Cheryl Mason	Midwich Elementary School (Silent Hill)
Descend Beyond	September 8, 2020	The Blight	Felix Richter	—
A Binding of Kin	December 1, 2020	The Twins	Élodie Rakoto	—
All-Kill	March 30, 2021	The Trickster	Yun-Jin Lee	—
Resident Evil †	June 15, 2021	The Nemesis	Leon S. Kennedy, Jill Valentine	Raccoon City Police Station (Raccoon City)[b]
Hellraiser †	September 7, 2021	The Cenobite	—	—
Hour of the Witch	October 19, 2021	—	Mikaela Reid	—
Portrait of a Murder	November 30, 2021	The Artist	Jonah Vasquez	Eyrie of Crows (Forsaken Boneyard)
Sadako Rising †	March 8, 2022	The Onryō	Yoichi Asakawa	—
Roots of Dread	June 7, 2022	The Dredge	Haddie Kaur	Garden of Joy (Withered Isle)
Resident Evil: Project W †	August 30, 2022	The Mastermind	Ada Wong, Rebecca Chambers	Raccoon City Police Station East Wing/West Wing (Raccoon City)[b]
Forged in Fog	November 22, 2022	The Knight	Vittorio Toscano	Shattered Square (Decimated Borgo)
Tools of Torment	March 7, 2023	The Skull Merchant	Thalita Lyra, Renato Lyra	Shelter Woods (The MacMillan Estate)[c]

Notes

a.^{^ ^} The Stranger Things chapter was removed from the game on November 17, 2021. Although the characters introduced are still available to play for those who had previously purchased them, the Underground Complex map is no longer accessible.

b.^{^ ^} The Raccoon City Police Station map introduced in the Resident Evil chapter was reworked and split into two separate maps for the Resident Evil: Project W chapter due to issues with sizing and pathing. The original map is no longer accessible.

c.^{^} The Shelter Woods map was introduced with the release of the game in 2016. However with the Tools Of Torment chapter, a new landmark was added to the map. With the addition of The Hunting Camp, the map became The Skull Merchant's de facto home map.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	PC: 71/100 PS4: 64/100 XONE: 58/100 NS: 61/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	PC: 9/10
IGN	9/10
PC Gamer (UK)	88/100

Dead by Daylight received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameSpot awarded it a score of 9 out of 10, saying "At launch, Dead by Daylight suffered because of its reliance on peer-to-peer hosting and absent social features, but over time it rectified these issues. And while a brief and premature tussle with skill-based matchmaking turned the new player experience into a bit of a horror show (a problem which is now [was] fixed), thanks to its community of players Dead by Daylight is without peer in the asymmetrical competitive multiplayer arena, and has grown into one of the most robust horror experiences around." Luke Winkie of PC Gamer awarded it a score of 88 out of 100, saying "In the five years since Behaviour Interactive released Dead by Daylight on Steam, the game has developed razor-sharp mechanical intrigue, an ultra-complex web of versatile builds and strategies, and a diverse suite of characters, each equipped with relative strengths and weaknesses."

Sales

During its first week, Dead by Daylight sold more than 270,000 copies. The game sold more than 1 million copies within 2 months. On November 16, 2017, more than 3 million copies were sold. As of May 2019, the game sold more than 5 million copies. In August 2020, the game reached more than 25 million players across all platforms. This number reached 36 million by May 2021, and 50 million by May 2022.

Originally, the game had a "Deluxe Edition", that grants cosmetics for the game Payday 2 as a part of promoting the game, coming with a discount for Payday 2 owners who pre-order the game. The Deluxe Edition was discontinued in 2020.

Popularity and impact

Dead by Daylight has become increasingly popular in Japan due to Behaviour catering to Japanese players with the release of Japanese-themed chapters like "The Shattered Bloodline" and "The Cursed Legacy", as well as expanding the lore of its in-game universe, which the Japanese gaming community tends to favor in video games. In return, the country has become one of the biggest markets for the game, becoming so popular that a Dead by Daylight-themed Entity Café opened on the fourth floor of the Tokyo Skytree in August 2021.

From October 21 to November 11, 2021, a Dead by Daylight crossover event called "Survivors of the Fog" was held in Ubisoft's fighting game For Honor. The event featured Dead by Daylight-inspired cosmetic items and a limited-time game mode that featured the Trapper as an AI-controlled enemy.

From October 21 to November 7, 2022, PUBG: Battlegrounds featured a crossover event with Dead by Daylight which saw the traditionally battle royale game introduce a new mode in which players would repair generators and escape from the killer, alongside cosmetics that emulate certain survivors and killers from the game. In return, Dead by Daylight saw the release of a set of cosmetics for its Dwight Fairfield character, which are replicas of the outfit of the character on PUBG's cover art. By playing at least one match of the special PUBG game mode, players were given a unique code for use in Dead by Daylight to receive the cosmetic set.

Mobile release

On June 19, 2019, Behaviour Interactive Inc. announced the plan to release Dead by Daylight to iOS and Android for free in an attempt to make the game more accessible to players around the world. A different development team was formed that is fully dedicated to optimizing the game for the mobile experience. Dead by Daylight Mobile was initially slated for launch in 2019, however the developers had to push the release to 2020, citing their need for more time to work on bugs and optimize. On February 27, 2019, Behaviour announced that the mobile versions will be published by Chinese video game publisher NetEase Games in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea. It was released in EMEA, the Americas, and South Asia on April 16, 2020.

In its 48 hours of release, Dead by Daylight Mobile outnumbered 1 million downloads. By October 2020, the game surpassed 10 million downloads. By May 2022, the game reached 25 million downloads.

In December 2022, they removed mobile versions from mobile storefronts and partnered with NetEase Games to develop and publish improved mobile versions, which are released in March 2023.

Spin-offs and other media

Games

In 2021, Behaviour Interactive held a survey regarding Dead by Daylight, with one of the questions asked of the fans was about what type of genre they would like the company to explore in the future featuring Dead by Daylight's characters; one of the possible options was a dating sim. On February 22, 2022, it was discovered that on February 16, Behaviour Interactive had filed a trademark for a project titled Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim. The description for the trademark states that it covers video games, as well as comic books and graphic novels. The game received an official announcement on May 17, 2022 during a developer livestream and officially released August 3, 2022. The dating sim is a visual novel text-based game with an anime style. Created in collaboration with Psyop, Hooked on You features four of Dead by Daylight's original Killers, the Trapper, the Huntress, the Wraith, and the Spirit, as well as original Survivors such as Dwight and Claudette.

Film adaptation

In March 2023, it was reported by Variety that Jason Blum and James Wan were producing a film adaptation through their Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster Productions banners, respectively alongside Behaviour Interactive.

See also

• List of horror video games

External links

• Official website