Dead by Daylight will not be releasing new content for the time being. Instead, they are listening to the community and want to make everything better.
Dead by Daylight is a long-running title and has been for quite some time. For over 9 years the game has been on Steam and has consistently remained in the top 50 titles with the highest concurrent player counts (via steamcharts). Additionally, it is played not only on PC but also on consoles with crossplay.
However, the community has become increasingly dissatisfied in recent years. The accusation was clear: Instead of fixing the major issues of Dead by Daylight, the developers have simply pumped out more and more content, sometimes even without proper testing.
Now the developers have shown insight and are planning a major overhaul offensive to address the biggest issues and criticisms. This includes options like “Abandon” and several “Anti-Troll Mechanisms”.
To fix these and other issues, even new content has been postponed. New chapters will not be released for the time being – instead, they want to focus extensively on “Quality of Life” improvements and only then bring new killers and survivors.
Abandon: When there is no chance
A long-desired feature is the option to collectively abandon a match under certain circumstances when a victory seems objectively hopeless. Specifically, these 2 cases are meant:
- All survivors are on the ground (“slugged”) and cannot help each other up.
- All survivors have left the game and the killer is only playing against bots.
If these two cases occur, both sides will be able to vote on an “Abandon” option, which ends the game prematurely and grants both sides their bloodpoints.
The end of “Go Next”
Similarly, they want to punish survivors harder who display a “Go Next” mentality. This includes individual survivors who – for whatever reason – abandon the match too early, position themselves on a hook, and signal to the killer to hang them so they can quickly “get into the next game”.
If characters exhibiting such behavior are identified, they will receive an account penalty as if they had left the game prematurely.
On the other hand, characters who give their best until the end will be rewarded. Therefore, there will be a “Streak” bonus for all who complete their matches to the end and do their best, even if the odds are unfavorable. This will grant additional bloodpoints.
Permanent hiding will be punished
Hiding as a survivor from the killer is an important aspect of Dead by Daylight. However, some players take it too far and essentially do not contribute to the survivors’ victory. They hide permanently and never approach generators, dragging matches out for both sides.
Therefore, the developers are changing how “AFK crows” work in the game, which actually appear when one does not move for a minute and then inform the killer of their location.
Once the game detects that a survivor has not participated in objectives for an extended period, meaning they are neither working on generators nor engaged in a chase with the killer, they will be tagged with a crow. This crow immediately reveals the survivor’s location to the killer.
Another adjustment to the crows will take place to avoid malicious body blocking – something trolls enjoy doing to harass their teammates. Once a player has received the third AFK crow, their character will lose collision – they can then pass through other characters and free themselves.
Intentional, ongoing body blocking is, of course, still prohibited and can be reported at the end of a round.
Map offerings are no longer guaranteed
The choice of map can make a big difference in Dead by Daylight. Some killers simply do not perform well on certain maps, while others are advantageous for survivors.
Map offerings can currently decide 100% which map will be played. This has led some survivors or killers to exit the match during the loading screen if they see an offering for a map they did not want to play.
Dead by Daylight is changing 2 things here:
- Map offerings are hidden. They will not be shown at the end of the lobby.
- Map offerings increase the chance of a map by 20%, instead of guaranteeing it. Multiple offerings for the same map do not stack.
With this adjustment, one cannot know in advance which map will be played, and premature disconnection should be avoided.
Survivors spawn together – and always
Depending on how a match starts, it can have drastic effects on the entire course of the game. A key factor is the spawn position of the survivors.
If survivors spawn far apart and start at different corners of the map, it is extremely disadvantageous for the killer. This is exactly what they want to correct.
The developers are implementing a change that ensures that survivors will always spawn within 12 meters of another survivor. This means that survivors will need to split at the start if they want to maintain the same efficiency as before.
Dead by Daylight will finally be brighter
An important aspect of Dead by Daylight is the darkness. Most maps are quite gloomy, but for some players, they are simply too dark. Whether due to the graphics card, the monitor, or eye problems – sometimes it is just too hard to see or there is complete blackness in front of them.
Therefore, Dead by Daylight will implement an option they have resisted for a long time: gamma settings. This will effectively allow players to adjust the brightness of Dead by Daylight.
This is something many players have already done through external tools, such as adjustments to their graphics card software. Having this now available for everyone creates a fair playing environment and is likely to help all who have had greater issues with the darkness.
When is all this coming? All the new features are set to be released throughout 2025. Whether Dead by Daylight will really refrain from new content updates with new chapters for the entire year in 2025 is still questionable. One thing is for sure: the priorities have changed and new chapters are postponed for now.
This decision is extremely well received by the community and has garnered a lot of praise – both in the game’s subreddit and in the Steam forums.
If you haven’t warmed up to Dead by Daylight yet, take a look at our list of all killers – you’ll surely find the right killer for you, with whom it is enjoyable to send a group of survivors on a direct path to the digital afterlife.
