A hefty graphics update brings back the horror of Dead by Daylight

The developers of Dead by Daylight have a lot in store. The graphics are meant to stand “proudly alongside next-gen games.” And crossplay is coming too…

A few days ago, Dead by Daylight held a large stream. The occasion was the celebration of the horror game’s 4th birthday. This was accompanied by the announcement of the new killer “Pyramid Head”, who comes from Konami’s Silent Hill series.

But beyond this announcement, Dead by Daylight had much new to share. Two of the biggest fan wishes are finally being realized. There will be crossplay between platforms, and a significant graphic update is supposed to prepare Dead by Daylight to shine alongside other “next-gen” titles.

This is how comprehensive the graphic update will be

After 4 years, the graphics of Dead by Daylight are no longer the freshest. Especially objects like the generators or the pallets, which have been in the game since the beginning, look outdated and extremely pixelated. Some of the first maps are also outdated and simply ugly compared to newer maps like the hospital.

Many maps simply no longer convey the creepy atmosphere. The developers want to change that. They plan to revive the “horror” in Dead by Daylight with the graphic update. The maps should feel oppressive, creepy, and truly unsettling. Therefore, the developers are planning a fairly extensive graphic update.

But the animations (of killers, survivors, and objects) as well as various special effects will also be enhanced. All maps are supposed to get more light sources (and thus more shadows) to create a dark atmosphere. The developers have already shown a few images of the new, revised assets.

You can see the “work in progress” overhaul of some maps in this video, starting at minute 49:20:

For this task alone, they hired new people and practically “assigned a whole team” to polish up all the graphics. So this will not be a small task that is pursued “on the side,” but a larger undertaking.

Crossplay is coming – PS4, Xbox One, and Switch will play with PC

One of the biggest announcements was the coming crossplay feature. In the first step, there will be overlapping friends lists between players on Steam and the Windows Store – the two platforms already have crossplay since both play on PC. Later, consoles will be added, namely PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Crossplay will then be an integral part of matchmaking – you will automatically be matched against and with players on other platforms.

When is crossplay coming? There is still no exact timeline for that. However, the developers plan to enable crossplay on all platforms “by the end of the year.”

What about progression and friends? This is an important issue for Behaviour. With crossplay come overlapping friends lists and the question of whether progress is shared across different platforms. They are currently considering implementation and want to clarify this in more detail at a later date. Discussions with Sony and Microsoft are necessary, which is why the developers cannot make any firm commitments yet.

For the coming year, Dead by Daylight has a lot planned. If the ideas are well implemented, the horror game has a promising future ahead.