Behaviour Interactive has just answered a lot of big questions about the immediate future of Dead by Daylight updates. During a special DBD Q&A on the game’s Reddit page, several developers from the team fielded community queries, and revealed a range of plans for the multiplayer game. Among them are a Survivor chat wheel that’s very close to release, plans to “debloat” add-ons and improve progression, and the introduction of Killer bots in custom games. The Behaviour devs also reflect on the failures of the Black Banquet event, the recent Grimoire chapter, and the potential for new game modes.
The biggest news to come from the Q&A is confirmation of a chat wheel for Survivors, which will let you quickly communicate your intentions through a series of presets. Associate Product Director Justin reveals that the feature will be coming to Dead by Daylight in the fall mid-chapter. “This is intended to primarily help out solo players,” they explain, but also note that it will “give the design team the ability to balance killers more effectively, as survivors they go against will vary less in sharable information.” It’ll start out in 1v4 for Survivors only, but is likely to be used “for a lot of situations as time goes on.”
Justin also touches on the possibility of a match replay system, which has been a long time request. “Many of us really want this,” they comment, “but to set expectations, it should only happen after our big upcoming update. All discussions point to it being a heavy system that would be best to make fresh in the updated DBD instead of creating now and then converting it all to work in the update.”
Over its decade-long lifespan, the sheer number of perks, addons, and offerings introduced to Dead By Daylight has become somewhat overwhelming. “The offering system as a whole is something we want to look at,” Senior Game Designer Jeff Melo says, “refining its identity and impact. Reducing the number of addons but making them more impactful is also something we have been discussing.” He says these are “longer-term plans” that are still in discussion, especially given the number of characters now in the game.
Senior Design Director Daniel Drapeau says Behaviour is “in the process of reviewing all our progression tracks and systems,” and that “progression as a whole is an ongoing discussion.” He also touches on “the overall bloat of certain elements, including addons and perks,” stating that the team wants “to reduce the amount of items that end up sitting unused in the player’s inventories.”
Drapeau mentions that such overhauls to progression “may take some time,” because it’s “connected to almost everything in the game” and thus requires a careful touch. In terms of keeping your rosters and inventories in order, Justin admits that improved sorting functionality “is definitely something growing in need as we keep adding characters, perks, outfits,” although says there are “no hard plans at the moment” for this.
Reflecting on whether the recent Black Banquet event should be considered a success, Product Manager ‘JP’ writes, “The short answer is no. We do these events for all of you and our payment is for you to enjoy it. We aren’t very happy when we fail to do this.” The team is studying feedback to plan for next year’s event; JP says “it will definitely not remain like this,” but adds, “That being said, we do not believe there was nothing good about it. We believe there were good parts and there are ways to salvage the best while ruling out the elements that were not appreciated.”
One user states that recent game modes and events have “given Survivors more than Killer mains.” JP responds that “there is no such thing as intentional favoritism within the team.” He remarks that player surveys indicated that the initial incarnation of Lights Out was both “Killer-sided” (balanced to their advantage) and “Killer-favored” (more interesting for that role than for Survivors). In subsequent iterations, the team added more for Survivors to balance things out.
“Sometimes, it might seem like we are favoring one role over the other, but we are trying to balance the experience so everyone can have fun,” JP concludes. “We don’t always get it right, we try new things and sometimes those new things do not work out in ‘real-world gameplay’ and we learn from that. But do tell us in surveys whenever you disagree and share what you would like for your role.”
The team also digs into ongoing character and map reworks. The Swamp rework is “very much” still happening, Justin confirms, adding, “We know players have been waiting more than a long time for this update and are deserving of more than a ‘soon.'” However, “With the big update on the horizon we’re focusing a lot of our level art and level design teams towards ensuring realms look (and play) their best for that moment.”
Justin mentions that Behaviour is also “looking at some well-deserved reworks in the coming year or so for Killers who have needed updates for a long time.” Melo explains that the current strategy “includes reviewing older Killers that lack addon variety,” and adds that the team is working on changes for how maps are generated, in an attempt to try and better address Killers that are particularly map dependent.
Melo says The Skull Merchant rework is still on the cards, but says that the great reception to the Trickster update “hinted that perhaps the proposed design for the Skull Merchant update strayed too far.” The team therefore “went back to the drawing board and went through multiple different iterations and, after many months of working on it, we have something really cool.” He says the resulting design “not only keeps the Killer’s identity very close to what it is, but expands on it in an interesting way.” No specifics for now, but the key pillars explored are “Track, Hunt, DIY Tech, Trophy, and Kill.”
Also on the cards are more diverse challenges through the quest system. “We’ve definitely heard players requesting more challenging objectives similar to what the Tomes used to give,” Justin comments. Again, player feedback will help drive what this ends up looking like: “The more we hear about what types of objectives these players liked the most, the more we can orient those updated quests to fit the desired level of challenge.”
Behaviour has been “actively having discussions on the next steps for bots,” and one of those will be the addition of Killer bots in custom games. “Killers supported presently in 2v8 will be easiest to fully support,” Justin explains, “as the work is already done for them as disconnect bots if their player leaves. To add support for every Killer we have is a substantial task, so these would be the Killers to prioritize for full support.”
Touching on 2v8, JP says that more classes and Killers will be introduced to the mode, but both will be limited. Classes are being kept “manageable and meaningful” but “will never have as many options as perks could give you,” and “not every Killer will be added.” This is to keep the mode as an easy “hop in” way to play that doesn’t get too bloated. “In essence, 2v8 is meant to be simpler and more of an arcade-style experience.”
JP adds that there are “absolutely” plans to introduce new modes and modifiers, and that Behaviour “currently aims to release at least one new mode within the next year.” The team has many ideas, he says, but “crafting them to our satisfaction can take a bit of time as we also have to juggle priorities.” Asked whether a third-person Killer mode could happen, he confirms “it’s definitely something we are interested in fiddling with at some point in the future,” but notes there’s no guarantee it’ll happen yet: “I don’t want to raise anyone’s hopes.”
Lead Community Manager ‘MandyTalk’ touches on the anti-cheat “arms race,” revealing that there are “some plans in place that we’re currently working on, based on the recent in-game survey,” and that we can expect to hear more about these “in the coming weeks (not months).”
Melo adds that Behaviour is also “tracking and actively discussing” the trend of players rapidly abandoning matches that aren’t going their way: “There are no ETAs at the moment, but we’re identifying solutions that will drastically reduce the frequency at which it happens.”
Those are the main beats, but there are lots of other smaller elements that the team touches on across the rest of the Q&A session. Melo mentions that the team is working on adjusting underutilized in-game mechanics in a “lighter side” update planned for early 2027. Also due in a similar timeframe is the planned gifting system, according to Associate Product Director Joey Audet Pepin.
Pepin also mentions that the team is reviewing the cosmetic side of Dead By Daylight, and is “actively working on increasing the amount of outfits released with each chapter and mid-chapter. Our goal is to offer more cool and qualitative content.” Elsewhere, Justin acknowledges that The Pig is still lacking licensed chase music. They says that, due to the way licensing deals are typically handled, there’s a “good chance it’ll come whenever we release our next cosmetic for The Pig.”
Finally, Drapeau touches on the recent release of the community-assisted Grimoire chapter. “I’d say the biggest takeaway from the Grimoire was that players want us to be bold and original with our ideas. You want us to take creative risks and not be afraid to surprise you. We also learned just how valuable it is to have such a direct connection with the community. Seeing your ideas slowly shape the chapter in real time was an incredible and unique experience.”