Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric survival horror video game developed by Behaviour Interactive. Dead by Daylight was released for Microsoft Windows in June 2016, released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017, released on Nintendo Switch on September 24, 2019, and a mobile port was released on iOS and Android on April 17, 2020. The game is played as a one versus four online multiplayer where one player takes on the role of the savage killer, and the other four players play as survivors, trying to escape the killer and avoid being caught and sacrificed to the Entity.
Alongside several original characters, the game also includes downloadable characters from several horror franchises such as Halloween, Left 4 Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw, Evil Dead, Scream, Stranger Things, and Silent Hill.
As of January 1, 2018, Behaviour Interactive became the game's publisher, acquiring publishing rights from Starbreeze Studios.
Gameplay
A group of up to four survivors must elude one killer. The survivors' perspectives are third-person, while the killer's perspective is first-person. The survivors cannot fight against the killer and can only survive by running away and evading them. They must use obstacles in the form of wooden pallets, windows, and items that they either find inside chests or bring before the match starts to run from the killer for as long as they can. In order to escape, survivors must repair 5 generators scattered across the entire map to power the exit gates, then they must open the exit gates and leave the area themselves or find a hatch to jump into.Characters
Players assume the role of one of the 22 survivors: Dwight Fairfield, Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Nea Karlsson, Laurie Strode, William 'Bill' Overbeck, Ace Visconti, Feng Min, David King, Quentin Smith, David Tapp, Kate Denson, Adam Francis, Jeffrey 'Jeff' Johansen, Jane Romero, Ashley 'Ash' Williams, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Yui Kimura, Zarina Kassir, or Cheryl Mason. The goal of the survivors is to escape the enclosed area, which can be done in one of two ways: either by repairing five disabled generators to provide power to the switch boxes of two exit gates leading out of the trial grounds; or by escaping through the hatch. The hatch opens only when there is only one survivor remaining in the trial. The survivors will need a key to open the hatch if there is more than one person alive. If the killer closes the hatch before the survivor reaches it the Endgame Collapse will initiate, giving the survivor only two minutes to open one of the exit gates before the timer runs out or they are caught by the killer. 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.Alternatively, players assume the role of one of the 20 killers: the Trapper, the Wraith, the Hillbilly, the Nurse, the Shape, the Hag, the Doctor, the Huntress, the Cannibal, the Nightmare, the Pig, the Clown, the Spirit, the Legion, the Plague, the Ghost Face, the Demogorgon, the Oni, the Deathslinger, or the Executioner. Most killers only have one form of locomotion, moving at a fast pace, which is moderately faster than the pace of a sprinting survivor, the average killer speed being 4.6 m/s compared to survivors' 4 m/s. When hunting the survivors, the killer must capture them by either striking them twice with their weapon or grabbing them in one move by either catching them inside a locker, while attempting to vault over pallets or through windows, while repairing a generator, or trying to rescue a fellow survivor from a hook. Some killers have secondary attacks that deal double-damage and put survivors into the "dying" state in one strike.
Every killer has a secondary ability, called a killer power. Each killer power is unique. For instance, the Wraith can "cloak", turning invisible and moving faster, and the Hillbilly wields a chainsaw which allows him to dash quickly along the map and instantly knock down survivors he comes into contact with. The powers can be augmented using add-ons, which are purchased in the bloodweb.
Basic gameplay
The killer's goal is to sacrifice survivors to the Entity, a malevolent being which rules over the realm in which Dead by Daylight takes place. Caught survivors are put onto meathooks located throughout the trial grounds, which starts the sacrifice process, which will take two minutes to complete without any outside influences. Some special add-ons, perks or the 'Memento Mori' offerings allow the killer to bypass the sacrifice process and kill a survivor directly, with a special animation.The first time a survivor is hooked, they enter the first phase. In this phase only, the survivor can try for a low chance of escaping from the hook at the cost of tremendously accelerating the sacrifice process upon failure to escape. Hooked survivors can also be rescued by fellow survivors. If the survivor escapes or is saved and eventually hooked a second time, they will enter the 'struggle phase', in which the survivor has to resist the Entity trying to stab them by rapidly pressing a button, until they are either saved by an ally or killed by the 'Entity'. If the survivor is saved during the 'struggle phase' and is hooked a third time, they will die instantly with no opportunity of survival.
The killer, despite walking at a fast pace, is slower than survivors in most other movements: after striking a survivor, the killer will slow their movement to wipe the blood off of their weapon. The killer is also slower in vaulting through windows and cannot leap over pallets that survivors can throw down into their path, but instead have to go around the spot or spend some time destroying them.
The killer also has an aura-reading ability, constantly revealing the location of generators, hex totems and if they are carrying a survivor, hooks across the map. A new mechanic was added in Patch 1.5.0, which introduced 'Bloodlust'. 15 seconds into a chase, the killer receives a boost of 0.2 m/s to his base movement speed; 30 seconds into a chase grants the killer a 0.4 m/s boost; and finally, if a chase lasts for 45 consecutive seconds, the killer receives a 0.6 m/s boost. Bloodlust only lasts until a chase ends after which the movement speed boost will degrade at a rate of 10% per second spent not chasing a survivor, with breaking a pallet or injuring a survivor instantly removing it completely.
When dealing with the killer, survivors can make use of a handful of Items – searching chests inside buildings which will sometimes yield med-kits, flashlights, toolboxes, keys, or maps. One resource that survivors can use are massive wooden pallets, which are placed upright, and can be pulled down when a survivor runs past them – if the killer is right behind the survivor, the pallet will momentarily stun the killer if it successfully hits them.
Other technical advantages that survivors have include the ability to see the aura of downed and hooked teammates – thus easily drawing them to their location for a rescue – and can similarly see the locations of newly repaired generators and the exit gates for a short period of time once all necessary generators are repaired. When the killer is near, the survivors will hear a heartbeat, and eventually tense music, both of which increase in intensity with proximity to the killer. They can also see a red light emanating from the killer's head onto the ground, which reveals the direction they are facing.
Objectives
Interacting with most objects and actions in the game causes random skill checks to trigger. Right before a skill check triggers, the player will receive a noise notification, and a needle within a circle will then appear on-screen. The player must hit the action button, when the needle is within a certain randomly chosen section of the circle before the needle passes it. The player can hit either a "good skill check" or "a great skill check". Hitting a good skill check grants 50 Bloodpoints, and a great skill check grants 300 Bloodpoints and an instant 1% bonus to progression on the objective. Failing a skill check has multiple consequences based on the action being taken.Repairing each generator takes a lengthy period of time and makes a rather small mechanical noise during the process. Failing a repair skill check will cause an explosion that will set the progress of the generator repair back and make a loud noise alerting the killer to the survivor's location. Killers have the ability to damage generators, which will regress them over time.
Sabotaging a hook takes a significantly shorter amount of time than repairing a generator but is considerably louder. To sabotage a hook, survivors must be equipped with a toolbox or have the Saboteur perk active. No skill checks will spawn whilst sabotaging a hook, and by default take 2.5 seconds to sabotage. Any progress made is reset upon cancelling the sabotage action. Sabotaged hooks will respawn after thirty seconds have elapsed. Special event hooks and the basement hooks cannot be sabotaged.
The process by which the survivors may heal themselves or each other can take drastically different lengths of time depending on multiple factors such as whether they have a med-kit, whether certain perks are active, whether the killer has been debuffed, and whether the survivor is healing themselves or an ally. Skill checks are as common as when repairing but have a slightly less severe consequence when failed. Failing a healing skill check still reduces the progress of the action but the wail made by the survivor being healed is quieter than the other explosions and bangs, but still alerts the killer of the location within a certain range.
If a survivor is caught by the killer, they are picked up and usually carried to the nearest hook. During this time they can attempt to wiggle out of the killer's grasp before they reach the hook, and attempt to run away. If the killer succeeds in impaling a survivor on one of the many hooks in the area, a teammate can rescue the impaled survivor or, more rarely, the impaled survivor can rescue themselves from the hook.
Once all generators are repaired, a survivor must find a switch next to one of two exit gates and hold it for 20 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 then repairing generators can become nearly impossible. An alternative escape method would be to use the black lock, commonly known as the 'hatch', which spawns in a random area after the number of generators repaired equals one more than there are survivors left alive in the game. The hatch spawns closed but when only one survivor remains then it will open automatically. The killer can close the hatch, which triggers the "endgame collapse" phase of the game. While closed it can be opened if one survivor has a 'Dull Key' or a 'Skeleton Key' and will remain open for 30 seconds, allowing any remaining survivors to hop in and escape.During "endgame collapse", the exit gates are powered, disregarding the amount of generators still left unrepaired.
Perks
Survivors and killers each have the option to utilize up to four perks in their load-out, which gives their characters special abilities. Players can only have one of each perk; for example, a player can have two exhaustion perks, but cannot have two of the exact same exhaustion perk, this applies to all perks not just exhaustion ones, and this is true for killers and survivors.Each character starts off with a set of three perks that are unique to them and must first be unlocked before the other characters can use them. These perks normally aim for a particular play style for their respective characters and can be unlocked and upgraded in the Bloodweb using Bloodpoints and each Bloodweb can hold 1–4 perks. Perks differ between survivors and killers. Survivor perks can range from giving a burst of speed when running from the killer to being able to self-heal without a first aid kit, to unlocking the ability to sabotage meat hooks without a toolbox. Killer perks may range from seeing survivors' auras, hindering their struggle time while being carried and locking down generators to prevent them from being worked on. There is also a multitude of 'universal' perks that are available to be used by any character.
Both survivors and killers are able to unlock items, perks, add-ons and offerings through the Bloodweb. Every action performed in a trial awards the player a number of Bloodpoints, and the sum is added to the player's total at the end of the trial. Each level of the Bloodweb is procedurally generated, and gets larger as the character gains levels. The rewards are connected to each other in a radial tree, and players must purchase rewards along the progression path to gain access to others. Once every reward on the tree has been purchased, the Bloodweb will generate a new level for the player to progress to, increasing that character's level. Once the character reaches Level 50, they will be given the option to prestige. While given the option, they will still be able to buy things from the Bloodweb, but will not further increase their level. Once prestiged, a character will reset their progression and receive one of their default customisation options in a blood-splattered variation. One can prestige one's character up to three times.
The Bloodweb may contain items and their add-ons, offerings that can be spent at the start of the round to influence the trial's conditions, and perks that make the character more powerful. Offerings and add-ons may only be used in one trial, whereas items can be re-used until the player dies, uses up all the charges of an item, or gives it to another player. Items can also be acquired from chests on the map, but this does not affect the character's Bloodweb.
Setting
Realms
The game takes place across fifteen realms which are based on the places the killers became murderers: The MacMillan Estate, Autohaven Wreckers, Coldwind Farm, Crotus Prenn Asylum, Haddonfield, Backwater Swamp, Léry's Memorial Institute, the Red Forest, Springwood/Badham Preschool, Gideon Meat Plant, Yamaoka Estate, Ormond, Hawkins National Laboratory, Grave of Glenvale, and Midwich Elementary School . Over time, the evilness of the 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.Buildings
Every map except for Wreckers' Yard and Rotten Fields features a map-specific building or landmark that remains in the same place in the map every game. Every map also features a building known as 'The Killer Shack' which is the same throughout all maps and appears in one of a few predetermined locations in the map, with the exception of five maps; Léry's Memorial Institute, Gideon Meat Plant, Haddonfield, Hawkins National Laboratory and Grave of Glenvale. Every new game, a room known as the 'basement' is placed under either the map-specific building or the shack.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, making it a very secure place for a killer to bring his victims without fear of other survivors saving them. Because of this danger, survivors are awarded a small number of points for even venturing into the basement.
Plot
The Entity, a supernatural being hailing from the ancient blood web, 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 it 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 dead into a dreamlike state that leads the survivors back to The Entity's 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 lonely campfire, 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 from where the killers were taken. The survivors' only hope of escape is to complete a series of generators scattered throughout each realm to power up large gates to escape. If the killer has killed all but one survivor, the Entity will offer the latter a final means of escape in the form of a hatch. Escaping from the grounds always takes the survivors back to the campfire, and offerings can be created to be burnt at it and appeal for the Entity's favour. Since the Entity feeds off the hope of the survivors to escape, it helps them just as much as the killers, acting as an impartial observer of the hunt, stepping in only to claim those hung on its hooks.
Downloadable content
Behaviour Interactive as of 2020 released 17 individual DLCs in total. Each DLC has included both a new survivor and killer, except for four where only one character was introduced , and one where 3 characters were introduced. The DLC's release with an average of three months interval between each one. Prior to the release of every DLC since the Clown, a Public Test Build is discharged, 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 pertinent upcoming DLC, such as bug fixing, adding missing features, etc. before the DLC officially gets released. The estimated time span between the opening of the Public Test Build 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.8 out of the 18 currently released DLC's have featured licensed killers and survivors from both popular horror franchises and other video games. The DLCs can be acquired in two ways; 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.
Key
- This symbol denotes DLCs that unveiled licensed characters, indicating Behaviour Interactive acquired the license to utilize said fictional characters.
| Title | Release Date | Killer | Survivor | Map |
| The Last Breath | August 18, 2016 | The Nurse | Nea Karlsson | The Asylum |
| The Halloween Chapter | October 25, 2016 | The Shape | Laurie Strode | Lampkin Lane |
| Of Flesh and Mud | December 8, 2016 | The Hag | Ace Visconti | The Pale Rose |
| Left 4 Dead | March 8, 2017 | – | William "Bill" Overbeck | – |
| Spark of Madness | May 11, 2017 | The Doctor | Feng Min | Treatment Theatre |
| A Lullaby for the Dark | July 27, 2017 | The Huntress | David King | Mother's Dwelling |
| LeatherFace | September 14, 2017 | The Cannibal | – | Rancid Abattoir |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street | October 26, 2017 | The Nightmare | Quentin Smith | Badham Preschool |
| The Saw Chapter | January 23, 2018 | The Pig | David Tapp | The Game |
| Curtain Call | June 12, 2018 | The Clown | Kate Denson | Father Campbell's Chapel |
| Shattered Bloodline | September 18, 2018 | The Spirit | Adam Francis | Family Residence |
| Darkness Among Us | December 11, 2018 | The Legion | Jeffrey "Jeff" Johansen | Mount Ormond Resort |
| Demise of the Faithful | March 19, 2019 | The Plague | Jane Romero | Temple of Purgation |
| Ash vs Evil Dead | April 2, 2019 | – | Ashley "Ash" Williams | – |
| Ghost Face | June 18, 2019 | The Ghost Face | – | – |
| Stranger Things | September 17, 2019 | The Demogorgon | Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler | The Underground Complex |
| Cursed Legacy | December 3, 2019 | The Oni | Yui Kimura | Sanctum of Wrath |
| Chains of Hate | March 10, 2020 | The Deathslinger | Zarina Kassir | Dead Dawg Saloon |
| Silent Hill | June 16, 2020 | The Executioner | Cheryl Mason | Midwich Elementary School |
Reception
Dead by Daylight received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameSpot awarded it a score of 6 out of 10, saying "Dead by Daylight executes the concept of a competitive horror game well, but only to a point."As of May 2019, the game sold more than 5 million copies.