Dead by Daylightis approaching a full decade of delivering a unique asymmetric horror experience featuring terror icons from across cinema and gaming. After around 30 collaborations with other franchises, a plethora of new maps and survivors, and a steady pace of updates that have further refined its gameplay,Dead by Daylightis nonetheless far from running out of steam. Recently, the game announced a collaboration with the household nameFive Nights at Freddy’sthat will introduce its principal villain, Springtrap, as the game’s latest Killer. This also comes with a faithful rendition of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria as the backdrop for Springtrap’s unique brand of horror.
That’s not allDead by Daylighthas in store, however. In an interview with Game Rant, Behavior Interactive’s head of partnership, Matthieu Cote, and Killer designer Jason Guzzo weighed in on some additional plans for the future. In particular, the team is planning a “choose your own chapter” event, allowing players to make the call regarding the game’s next stretch of content. Meanwhile, a new Killer is in the works based on real-world folklore.
Dead by Daylight’s “choose your own chapter"approach is certainly compelling, as this level of transparency and cooperation among developers and players is exceedingly rare. Some developers may use polls or community feedback to guide decisions, but few go as far as placing the development cycle directly into the hands of players.Dead by Daylightwill present players with a series of choices that will branch into further choices, ultimately sculpting the community’s perfect Killer. Cote explains:
“The thing is, there are so many options—literally, the system we’ve created has so many branching possibilities. Now, we haven’t designed and concepted every single path yet, but we have a few of the first questions mapped out and some of the other branches too. It could lead to…well, it’s not just hundreds; it’s probably thousands of different options.
Honestly, I’m not even that focused on the resulting chapter. I think it’s going to be great no matter what, because we tend to do really cool, original stuff. But I think the journey—the ride of it—is going to be super fun and interesting. And you’re right, I can’t really think of any other examples of people doing something quite like this.”
Importantly,Dead by Daylight’s playerswon’t be “locked” into any given decision. Once a choice is made, the alternative outcome is revealed, and players will have a chance to change course if that other outcome is more desirable. The possibilities seem endless, with Cote saying there are likely thousands of potential outcomes, and it’ll be exciting to see how this takes shape.
Additionally,Dead by Daylighthas an entirely new kind of killer in the works. While most of its roster is based on fictional characters from film and games like Chucky orSilent Hill’s Pyramid Head, this new Killer will come from real-world folklore. Cote reveals that the folklore-based Killer has already been chosen:
“That one’s decided. It’s not finished, of course, but yeah, it’s super fun. It’s a really interesting one.
That’s the thing, right? There are so many impressive boogeymen that live under people’s beds all around the world. Horror is…well, for some people, it’s extremely personal. It’s the stories their grandmother told them when they were kids. But for the rest of us, it can be an introduction to something genuinely scary.
And that’s the thing—horror touches on something fundamentally human. It’s universal.”
While Cote understandably didn’t reveal who this killer might be, there are quite a few possibilities that could work well inDead by Daylight. The Wendigo or Skinwalker from North America, South America’s Chupacabra, Arabian folklore’s Djinn, and Central Europe’s Krampus are some potential folklore creatures that could be suitable choices. Whatever the outcome, it’s clear thatDead by Daylight’s Killerroster still has plenty of room to grow.
