Dead by Daylight is as popular as ever, so what better time to jump back into the game? Or perhaps try it for the first time if you’ve been missing out on all the fun until now. This is a particularly good time to play Dead by Daylight because the game just received a fresh major update that introduced a new killer, a new survivor, a new map, and more.
In addition, players will also be able to take part in a celebratory limited-time event called Twisted Masquerade starting on June 16th. Needless to say, there are still plenty of reasons to play Dead by Daylight in 2023, especially during the month of June.
But whether you’re a new or returning player, I’m sure you have a few questions about the game; questions we intend to answer in this article. Without further ado, here’s everything you need to know about Dead by Daylight:
What Is Dead by Daylight?
We’re starting off with something really basic here. Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric 4v1 survival horror game in the vein of Friday the 13th: The Game or the more recent Evil Dead: The Game. You’re probably already noticing a pattern here. These types of games tend to be based on or inspired by horror movies and Dead by Daylight is no exception. However, this isn’t a straight-up movie adaptation.
In Dead by Daylight one player takes on the role of a Killer while four other players take on the role of Survivors trying to evade and eventually escape said Killer. While a lot of the Killers and Survivors are based on popular horror icons, most of them don’t actually bear their names due to licensing issues. Still, you’ll immediately recognize characters like Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers even though they may have slightly different appearances and names.
Another thing worth keeping in mind before jumping in is that Killers play in first-person while Survivors play in third-person. Also important to note is that both sides have objectives to fulfill during a match. You’re not just aimlessly chasing each other around the map, though it may feel like that at first.
How to Play Dead by Daylight
This isn’t really a question per se but it’s worth going over the basic gist of how to play Dead by Daylight. As mentioned earlier, you start off by picking a side – Killer or Survivor.
Your job as a Killer is to find the Survivors and sacrifice them to the Entity. In spite of what the name might suggest, you can directly attack Survivors but you can’t outright kill them. Instead, you’ll need to disable them and take them to the nearest hook where they will be slowly prepared for sacrifice. You’ll need to sacrifice all four Survivors to win.
If you’re playing as a Survivor, you won’t be able to directly attack the Killer but you will have a variety of other tools at your disposal. The main strength of Survivors is their numbers. Survivors can heal and unhook each other, as well as provide distractions, among other things.
The main goal of Survivors is to fix generators found across the map. If you manage to fix enough generators, you’ll be able to open gates that allow you to escape the area and win the game. At least one Survivor needs to completely leave the area in order for their side to win.
When Did Dead by Daylight Come Out?
Dead by Daylight originally launched as a PC exclusive on June 14th, 2016. The game was ported to the PS4 and Xbox One almost exactly one year later before making its way to the Nintendo Switch in September of 2019. Since then, the game was also ported to the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, mobile devices, and even Google Stadia.
Fun fact: Dead by Daylight was originally published by Starbreeze Studios before they sold the publishing rights to Behaviour Interactive in January 2018. Behaviour Interactive also happens to be the game’s developer.
Is Dead by Daylight Crossplay?
Not only is Dead by Daylight crossplay but it’s actually one of the best crossplay games out there. However, there are a couple of things you should know before you attempt to play with people from other platforms. While PC and console players can play together, this option isn’t available to mobile players. There is crossplay between Android and iOS devices but not between mobile and other platforms.
Another important thing to note is that crossplay in Dead by Daylight isn’t enabled by default. To enable the feature, you’ll need to go to the options and turn it on from there. You’ll find the option to toggle crossplay on or off from the ‘Online’ sub-menu. Unlike other online games, Dead by Daylight doesn’t give a noticeable advantage to people playing on a specific platform, so there’s no reason not to leave crossplay on all the time.
Is Dead by Daylight Free?
These days you can play dozens of titles without having to spend a penny thanks to the prevalence of free-to-play games. In fact, many of the most popular games around are completely free, including the likes of CS: GO, League of Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite, Lost Ark, and many more. But is Dead by Daylight also free? Unfortunately, no, not at the moment. However, it was possible to get it for free at one point.
Dead by Daylight is one of the many games Epic gave away for free via the Epic Games Store. The promotion ran for one week back in late 2021 and anyone who grabbed it then can still play Dead by Daylight for free even now. If you missed out, you might still be able to get it for free at some point in the future. Several games were given away for free on the EGS on multiple occasions. It’s possible that Dead by Daylight could also return as a freebie at some point, though there are no guarantees.
As of this writing, Dead by Daylight is free to play on Steam as part of the promotion, but the offer will only last for three more days. This is just a free-to-play weekend so don’t expect to be able to keep the game afterward.
How Much Is Dead by Daylight?
If you weren’t able to get Dead by Daylight for free don’t worry because at least you can get it for relatively cheap. On consoles the game usually goes for about $30 while on PC you can buy it for around $20, depending on where you’re looking. That’s just the standard edition, though. There’s also an Ultimate Edition, a Silent Hill Edition, and over two dozen DLC packs to choose from. Most DLCs will set you back between $5 and $8 but there are much more expensive ones as well.
Now, if you’re looking to buy Dead by Daylight for the cheapest price possible, PC is your best option by far. Not only is the game cheaper there, in general, but it goes on sale more often than on consoles. In fact, it’s actually on sale right now. As of this writing, you can get the base game on Steam for only about $8. There’s also a similar promotion running on the Epic Games Store.
As far as consoles are concerned, the only one that’s offering the game on sale right now is Xbox. You can currently get Dead by Daylight on Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S for just $12. Or, even better, you can get it with Game Pass for just $10/month along with over 100 other titles. Of course, Game Pass is also available on PC and you can get three months there for just $1 if you’re a new subscriber.
PlayStation doesn’t include Dead by Daylight with its subscription service but that may change in the future so keep your eyes peeled.
Is Dead by Daylight Split Screen?
Split screen games are seeing a bit of a resurgence these days. There are indeed a few online games that support split screen functionality, such as Rocket League, to name just one example. As far as Dead by Daylight is concerned, though, the game does not support split screen at the moment and it’s unlikely that it ever will.
Dead by Daylight relies heavily on tension to deliver an intense gameplay experience. Especially if you’re playing as a Survivor. The game would lose much of its intensity if you were playing it with a buddy sitting on the couch right next to you. Furthermore, this is an asymmetric game so I’m sure that would also cause a whole set of problems for the developers if they were to try to implement split screen functionality.
Does Dead by Daylight Have Voice Chat?
A lot of modern online games come with built-in voice chat that allows players to communicate with other members of their party. Unfortunately, Dead by Daylight does not have voice chat and the developers have expressed no desire to add such a feature in the future either. That’s a real shame because a game like this could have really benefited from proximity voice chat. The role-playing potential would be massive, especially while playing as the Killer.
Of course, you can still use voice chat while playing Dead by Daylight but you’ll need to rely on third-party software for that. Discord, Skype, or even the Steam voice chat are all good options if you’re on PC.
Meanwhile, PlayStation and Xbox users have the option to form voice chat parties on their respective platforms. The Switch has voice chat as well, although it’s a bit more limited. Alternatively, you can always just use an exterior device like your phone. Needless to say, using voice chat only makes sense if you’re playing as a Survivor.
Who’s the Best Character in Dead by Daylight?
As you might imagine, there’s no definitive answer to this question. All Killers and Survivors have their own strengths and weaknesses that make them better or worse depending on the situation. That said, there are some well-rounded characters that tend to do well in any situation.
In terms of Survivors, Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, William “Bill” Overbeck, Feng Min, and Laurie Strode are all great picks for both new and experienced players. As far as the Killers are concerned, you can’t go wrong with The Spirit, The Nurse, The Wraith, or The Nemesis. At the end of the day, though, you should try as many characters as you can and figure out which ones work best for your particular playstyle.
Is Dead by Daylight Cross Progression?
Dead by Daylight does indeed have cross progression but this feature is very limited as of right now. According to Behaviour Interactive’s website, cross progression is currently only available on Steam and Google Stadia. You can synchronize your progress between those two platforms but that’s about it.
Interestingly enough, in the FAQ section the developers describe cross progression as the ability to “synchronize your game progression and your inventory (DLCs, purchases, skins) on several platforms.” Unless that’s a typo, it looks like the devs might be planning to bring Dead by Deadlight cross progression on other platforms in the future. But there’s no official news on when that will happen.
How Many People Play Dead by Daylight?
It’s pretty difficult to get an accurate player count for a cross-platform game like this. The best stats we have are on PC but even those only account for the Steam version. On Steam, it’s currently the 23rd most played game just behind Payday 2 and V Rising.
According to SteamCharts, Dead by Daylight had almost 34K concurrent players on average over the past 30 days. Numbers are currently on the rise thanks to the anniversary event, new DLC, and ongoing sale, so we’ll probably see those figures continue to rise for a while longer. Keep in mind that those are only Steam players. If we account for other storefronts like the Epic Games Store or the Microsoft Store, the PC player base could hover at around 50K or more.
As far as consoles are concerned, PS-Timetracker lists Dead by Daylight as the 10th most popular game on PlayStation platforms over the past 30 days. There are no official stats from Sony and PS-Timetracker has a very limited sample size, so take that with a grain of salt. We don’t have any official stats for the Xbox version either but the game is currently the 17th most played game on the platform according to the Microsoft Store.
While those stats don’t give us an accurate look at how many people play Dead by Daylight in 2022, they do confirm that this is still a popular game with a healthy player base. Admittedly, that’s not exactly surprising when you consider that Dead by Daylight sold over 50 million copies across all platforms as of March 2022.
Can You Play Dead by Daylight Offline?
Dead by Daylight is one of the best co-op games around, but can you also play it alone? Well, you can in the sense that you don’t need to be in a party to queue for a game. However, you can’t play Dead by Daylight offline. You do have the ability to create custom matches, but those require you to be online as well. Like most features that are not already in the game, a Dead by Daylight offline mode will probably never be implemented.
