Dead by Daylight Confirms Free Xbox Series X and PS5 Update, Previews New Graphics

Dead by Daylight is coming to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X later this year during the Holiday 2020 launch window, developer Behaviour Interactive confirmed. When it arrives on those next-gen platforms, the people who own the game already will get a free upgrade to the new versions with all progression earned during the current generation remaining intact. The announcement was joined by a preview of the big graphics overhaul starting soon that'll span the course of several months as key parts of the game are enhanced.

The next-gen upgrade announcement was shared on Tuesday along with details about how Dead by Daylight will play on the new consoles. It'll run at 4K and will hit 60fps on both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and when all the updates and graphical enhancements are out, Behaviour Interactive said the next-gen version of Dead by Daylight will essentially be an "entirely remastered edition of the game."

As for the graphics, those will be updated sooner rather than later. The plans to upgrade the game's visuals, lighting, and animations among other things are underway now and will continue until Fall 2021, Behaviour Interactive said. Those updates will be released for free as different parts of the game are upgraded and will be part of Dead by Daylight's "The Realm Beyond" project.

The video above shows what the before and after shots of different parts of Dead by Daylight maps and important components like the generators will look like when things are updates. Lead Level Artist Stephanie Hellin highlighted some of the specific changes players can expect to see when the update releases.

"For this first major update, we focused on updating Springwood and Yamaoka Estate," Hellin said. "We gave a lot of attention to the lighting to make the experience of roaming these maps more realistic and engrossing. Individual rooms will now be more distinct, with each serving a specific function. This allows players to better orient themselves in a Trial, while also filling the maps with environmental storytelling details for you to discover. On top of that, the team has also made some significant changes to both the visuals and interaction animations of Generators and Chests."

This first update will be released with the game's next Chapter. We've already seen hints of that Chapter through teasers released recently, but it hasn't been confirmed yet what the Chapter will feature.