To coincide with the release of the second Stranger Things chapter in Dead by Daylight, the game’s developers held an hour-long livestream. They discussed the new chapter, new Twitch drops, upcoming cosmetic collections, and much more.
Behind the Scenes of the 2nd Stranger Things Chapter
The livestream largely revolved around the release of Stranger Things: Volume 2 in-game, featuring Vecna (known in-game as “The First”) as the Killer, and Eleven and Dustin Henderson as the new Survivors.
Licensing and Partnership
Dave Richard (Senior Creative Director) and Mathieu Côté (Head of Partnerships) discussed the journey of the license. They shared how saddened they were when the original chapter was removed from the game in 2021 (before being brought back in 2023), and how hard they fought to bring it back alongside even more Stranger Things content.
Dave mentioned the team was “privy” to information about the future of the show, allowing them to lean into a more mature horror tone for this chapter. Matthieu added that while they considered several Survivors, Netflix helped them decide on Eleven and Dustin. They felt both were perfect fits for the game, with the added bonus that Dustin could finally be reunited with his bestie, Steve Harrington.
Of course, there are two more characters joining the fog as legendary skins. Eddie Munson and Robin Buckley (in her iconic Scoops Ahoy outfit) also launched today into the world of Dead by Daylight.
Art and Design
Sarah Robinson (Associate Art Director) discussed the challenges of bringing these characters to life. She revealed that Netflix sent the team the same face scans used for the show’s own VFX, and that because Dead by Daylight chapters are developed far in advance, the team was actually working on designs before we had all seen Vecna’s Season 5 appearance.
Sarah also noted that they are continuing to iterate on Nancy Wheeler’s face. While the “face upgrade” on the PTB wasn’t quite right, they are using Natalia Dyer’s actual face scan to ensure the final version is perfect.
Gameplay
Game Designer Janick Neveu (who also worked on the Demogorgon and the other Vecna from D&D that’s in the game already) explained the philosophy behind the new Killer. The goal was to mimic the show’s psychological horror, where Vecna “plays” with his victims before the final blow.
To achieve this, the team introduced The Curse and Worldbreaker Mode. Vecna starts the match in a weaker state where he primarily focuses on cursing players. Once Vecna enters Wordlbreaker Mode, he becomes rapidly more deadly, and can injure survivors with his abilities.
Ironically, Vecna in Dead by Daylight feels leagues stronger than he ever was in the Netflix show.
Finally, Janick teased that there is a secret way for The First to Mori survivors early under certain conditions. Unfortunately, he didn’t reveal how, leaving it for the community to figure out on their own.
Twitch Drops
Hosts Dork and Eric Hope showed off the Twitch drops available between January 27th and February 10th. By watching Dead by Daylight streams, you can earn:
- 1 Hour: The Upside Down Gates Badge
- 3 Hours: The Ruins of Hawkins Banner
- 6 Hours: Dustin’s Cap Charm
Upcoming Collections
Hollis (Senior Live Ops Specialist) showcased a massive slate of upcoming outfits:
- Dustin: Features his “BYTE OFF” shirt and his iconic Hellfire Club t-shirt, which is also available for all original survivors too.
- Eleven: Her Season 3 mall outfit from her shopping trip with Max.
- Vecna: A skin showing his transformation between 001 and Vecna.
- Eldritch Nightmares Collection: New skins for the Nurse and Taurie Cain.
- Modern Tales (Feb 3rd) Collection: Snow White-themed skins for the Plague, Kate, and Jonah.
In a surprise reveal, The Unknown is receiving an absolutely awesome headpiece based on the hit roguelike Balatro. This cosmetic turns The Unknown into a terrifying version of a Joker. Best of all, it’s going to be a free cosmetic when it drops in-game on February 20th. This is their second collaboration, after some Dead by Daylight killers appeared in Balatro as playing cards a few years back.
The Return of 2v8
The fan-favorite 2v8 mode is returning for the 7th time with major updates. This version includes:
- New Killer: Chucky.
- New Maps: Groaning Storehouse and Rotten Field.
- New Class: The Torchbearer class for Survivors.
- Updated Mechanics: A “Double Terror Radius and Lullaby“ feature to discern where both Killers are at the same time, and the ability for three Survivors to heal a single teammate simultaneously.
The Flashback Rift
The new Flashback Rift includes 80s- and Stranger Things-themed rewards, most notably the Henry Creel outfit for The First and the Sensory Deprivation outfit from Season 5 for Eleven.
Live Q&A Session
To end the livestream, they held a short Q&A to address some of the community’s most popularquestions:
Q: Is The First getting any balance adjustments from the PTB? A: So we’ve made some minor adjustments to The First after evaluating how he performed in the PTB; added a shorter interaction cooldown after the Undergate attack, increased the Vine attack cancel cooldown slightly, adjusted the chest piece add-ons description and explosion activation delay… that should all be in the patch notes.
Q: Are the Stranger Things Chapter 2 characters voiced by their original voice actors? A: No. And while we always try to get the original voice actors when we are bringing existing characters into the world of Dead by Daylight, it’s not always possible. We still wanted to give them a voice as they take on this new adventure here in the fog. So, yep, really sorry about that. Wish we could.
Q: It’s great that Chaos Shuffle has come back, but is there a chance we’ll see Lights Out or My Little Oni return? A: They will potentially make a return maybe. Not in the same iteration as they’ve been in the past, but there is nothing set in stone quite yet. Stay tuned on that one.
Q: Now that you’ve shown that you can test other modes on the PTB…Is this something you plan to do more of in the future? A: We are always aware with a PTB that only PC players get to experience this and test the new content. So yes, while having more things being tested is the dream, we still focus or we still want to focus on what can be released on all platforms. The dream. I wish we could do PTB for all of our console folks. Yeah, maybe someday.
Q: Will the Legion be back in the upcoming version of 2v8? A: So the Legion won’t be back in the upcoming 2v8. When the team has more to update about this, we’ll be sure to let you know and share this with community. I did miss seeing the Legion in the last 2v8, but you know, his time is coming.
Q: With the Halloween DLC leaving, which we are still very sad about, what’s going to happen to the perks and achievements? A: The perks will remain unlockable in the blood web of the respective characters with the original names and flavor texts if you’ve already unlocked the characters prior to the 19th of January of this year. For players who have not unlocked the characters, the perks will appear in the general perk pool to be available to unlock on any character immediately. These general perks will appear under new names. The achievements will be made into generic achievements, not character specific. However, they will also unlock automatically if you have already completed the character related achievement. So your current progress will also remain.
And that’s been everything that was mentioned in the livestream. If you would like to watch it for yourself, check out the video below. Make sure to stay tuned on JumpScared! for all your Dead by Daylight news, and have a lovely day.
