Dead by Daylight Has an "Unwritten Ratio" for Original and Licensed Content

Dead by Daylight routinely offers new characters and other types of content through Chapters that [...]

Dead by Daylight routinely offers new characters and other types of content through Chapters that are sometimes totally original and sometimes licensed from acclaimed horror properties. From characters unique to the game like Dwight Fairfield and The Deathslinger to licensed ones such as Michael Myers and Leatherface, the Chapters offer a diverse selection of characters and maps both new and familar. Guiding this content is an "unwritten ratio," Behaviour Interactive said, and the developers are careful not to set a pattern with the new Chapter releases so that players don't know what to expect and will still be surprised when new content is announced.

Mathieu Côté, game director for Dead by Daylight, discussed this unwritten ratio with ComicBook.com ahead of the developer's announcement that the next Chapter would be based around Silent Hill. That Chapter's obviously a licensed one born from conversations between Behaviour and Konami, but no matter what licensed characters come to the game, Côté said it's important to make sure those characters are coming into Dead by Daylight to play, not to make it a free-for-all of iconic horror franchises.

"There is an unwritten ratio where we need to make sure that we don't dilute the lore and the story and the strength of the Dead by Daylight universe that we've created," Côté said. "So we need to make sure that Dead by Daylight stays the universe in which the others come to play, and it doesn't become just a free-for-all of a mishmash of different licenses. It's very, very clear right now when you play Dead by Daylight that you're playing Dead by Daylight, and all these weird characters and all these strange environments are creations of The Entity or invited in by The Entity."

Dead by Daylight's original characters like The Nurse and The Hillbilly are still favorites among players even if they have to go up against the likes of horror icons like Ghostface and Freddy Krueger. Côté acknowledged the hunger for more original Chapters players have and said the developer plans to keep delivering on that.

As for the pattern of releasing licensed and original content, there isn't really one to speak of. Looking at the Chapters site for Dead by Daylight shows a healthy mix of both types of content that leans slightly more towards original releases. Sometimes we'll see original Chapters released one after another and sometimes they're broken up with licensed content. Without a defined pattern, it keeps players guessing what'll happen next.

"And we don't want to set a cadence for it," Côté continues. "We don't want to set a clear ratio, because if we said every third chapter is going to be licensed, then people would know what to expect. And we like to surprise people. Some years will be different and some years are going to be more original and some others are going to be more licensed. If it makes sense, it makes sense."

One would-be licensed character that's not in the game is Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise, but Côté said Behaviour would welcome the character with open arms should the opportunity ever present itself.

Dead by Daylight's Silent Hill Chapter is currently available on the test servers and will be fully released on June 16th.

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