Montreal-based Behaviour Interactive unveiled a slew of updates coming to its Dead by Daylight franchise as part of the massively popular multiplayer horror game’s big 10th anniversary event.
At Montreal’s Grand Quay, Canada’s largest independent developer hosted a special panel for the roughly 3,000 attendees that was also streamed online to outline the future of DBD. Read on for a breakdown of what was featured.
Technical improvements
First and foremost, Behaviour acknowledges that the long-running DBD could use some enhancements, and so it outlined several ways it’s levelling up the game. To start, a “big” character rework is being planned so every Survivor and Killer receives updated models. This includes more detailed faces, improved hair fidelity and more lifelike animations. As an example, we saw a side-by-side comparison of a character who is impaled on a hook, and in the updated model, the character grimaces and writhes more realistically as her hair glistens.
Additionally, all of the DBD maps have been remastered with enhanced objects and materials (such as a more detailed gas station sign) and a dynamic weather system. The latter is especially interesting, as the howling wind, hammering rain, splashing puzzles and denser fog and mist are intended to make it harder for players to see and hear one another.
Behaviour says these updates are set to come in the second half of 2027 with the developer saying it wanted to unveil them now for the sake of transparency and so fans can provide feedback along the way. It adds that it will take time because there will be over 10 years of content to overhaul. Because of that, Behaviour says it’s outsourced all of this work to another studio so the main development can continue to focus on new game content.
New game modes
Behaviour also teased two new game modes. The first, coming in early 2027, is a 1v1 match type that’s inspired by the DBD competitive scene and removes perks and items. In this Best of 3 skirmish, players will take turns assuming the role of Survivor and Killer.
The second mode, which is farther away and doesn’t have a release window, is appropriately called Zombie Mode. In this undead riff on the classic DBD experience, generators have been replaced with medical stations at which Survivors will have to work together to create vaccines to combat hordes of zombies that are chasing them. Survivors will win once enough zombies have been cured or killed. The catch is that Survivors will still be hunted by a Killer, and while the villain can’t kill or impale anyone on hooks, they can still infect opponents to turn them into zombies. Another fun angle is that players who are turned into zombies can then run around infecting others, giving them a bit more agency than they’d normally have when hooked or killed.
In the meantime, the next in-game event will be “Blank Banquet,” and it focuses on collecting, consuming and corrupting food. Food types will evolve throughout the map across different “meal courses,” and Survivors can eat them for buffs, while the Killer can poison them to inflict debuffs. Blank Banquet runs from June 25 to July 16.
Later, on August 25, DBD will kick off “Chorus of Sin,” the next chapter of The Grimoire event that let the community vote on a variety of topics to shape the development of a new Survivor and Killer. And finally, a sandbox modding mode for players to create their own DBD content was teased, although more details weren’t provided.
New characters
Of course, Behaviour shouted out the impending debut of new Killer Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th fame, given that he’s been a long-requested character. A new trailer was shown for him ahead of his June 16 launch. Art the Clown from Damien Leone’s Terrifier was also teased for a November 2026 launch.
Additionally, Behaviour unveiled a new original character who’s actually the game’s first Indigenous Survivor: Shane Wiigwaas. He’s an Anishinaabe lawyer who, after failing to protect a family member, began travelling the country on his motorbike to help other communities. Shane is played by Bdewakantunwan Dakota and Dine actor Dallas Goldtooth (Reservation Dogs) and launches in DBD on June 25.
Other character-related updates include:
- A Scooby-Doo outfit for existing characters, not Scooby-Doo himself (TBA)
- Silent Hill’s Hinako (June 30) and the Nurse (early 2027) Legendary outfits for Cheryl and the Spirit, respectively
- Lilith from Diablo IV Legendary outfit (TBA)
- The Walking Dead’s Glenn (August) and Negan (TBA 2027) Legendary outfits for Rick
Other misc. updates
- A crossover with The Casting of Frank Stone (the Supermassive-developed survival game set in the DBD universe) is finally happening with Frank being added as a Killer in 2027
- An immersive experience based on DBD (TBA)
- An Iron Maiden outfit for Huntress to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary (TBA)
- A new map, The Mall, coming this December (in response to fan requests for a shopping mall with liminal spaces)
- A new song by the band Ice Nine Kills (which was amusingly introduced in a video by Tony Hawk, with a “Part 2” featuring the iconic skater coming later this month)
- Thordur Palsson (2024’s acclaimed The Damned) is directing the DBD movie from Blumhouse and Atomic Monster
All in all, it was a jam-packed event for the game’s 70-plus million players. It was also a well-deserved celebration, considering it’s one of the biggest Canadian video game success stories, especially since it’s Canadian-owned, unlike many titles that are made here. We’ll have more from DBD‘s 10th anniversary celebrations in the coming days. Behaviour also says it will have another livestream next month to reveal more details on some of these latest announcements.
Dead by Daylight is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Image credit: Behaviour Interactive
