Five Nights at Freddy’s Arrives in Dead by Daylight, with a New Killer and Map

It’s finally here! The most requested killer (okay, maybe second most after Jason Voorhees) is now playable on all platforms. Five Nights at Freddy’s has finally arrived in the fog, bringing the legendary Springtrap (aka “The Animatronic”) as a killer, and the iconic Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria as a brand-new map.

As a huge fan of both franchises, this feels like an absolute dream come true, and Behaviour has absolutely nailed it. Now, enough preamble, let’s dive into all the details about this legendary crossover.

Springtrap Always Comes Back

Of course, there was no other choice than to bring the main antagonist of the series, Springtrap, as the killer in Dead by Daylight. He looks uncannily accurate to his appearance in FNAF 3, and Behaviour’s made sure to include plenty of jump scares that call back to the game.

Loading into the match, Springtrap creeps forward and lets out a robotic, gargled cry. You take control as he exclaims, “This will be fun,” and begin to look for your first survivor, armed with a long, sharp, bloody knife.

Security Doors

Springtrap plays pretty similarly to the other killers, with a couple of gimmicks that help him stand out. The first difference you’ll notice is that there are seven doors scattered around the map (conveniently near the seven generators!). These are security doors that both Springtrap and the four survivors can use to traverse the map. 

The survivors can also access the cameras located on top of the doors to check out what’s going on around the map before they choose to travel through the security door. This is a really cool callback to the first three FNAF games, which reached insane popularity due to their terrifying yet strategic gameplay that revolved around checking cameras (and spotting different animatronics slowly making their way to the security office to kill you).

Using the security doors also comes with a risk – if both a survivor and Springtrap travel through at the same time, Springtrap will grab and jumpscare the survivor with a classic FNAF-style face zoom-in jump scare.

Fire Axe

Deviating a little from the established lore in the games – but still signed off and approved by FNAF’s creator Scott Cawthorn, don’t you worry – Springtrap is also equipped with a fire axe, which he can throw and lodge into survivors. It sort of works like the Huntress’ hatchets, but with a shorter range. Survivors can’t heal at all whilst this is embedded in their back, so they will have to remove it before they can heal. 

What makes the fire axe stand out is that Springtrap can rip the axe back out of the survivor if he catches up to them, immediately downing them. This allows for a fairly easy two-tap maneuver, which will quickly take a survivor from fully healthy to the dying state.

Springtrap’s Perks

As is the case for every new character, Springtrap brings with him three new perks which you can unlock for every killer once you prestige Springtrap (or when the perks come to the Shrine of Secrets).

Help Wanted: When you damage a generator, it becomes compromised. When the compromised generator is completed, your successful basic attack cooldowns are 25/25/25% faster for 40/50/60 seconds.

Phantom Fear: When a Survivor within your Terror Radius looks at you, they scream and you see their aura for 2/2/2 seconds. This perk has a 80/70/60 second cooldown.

Haywire: Exit gates switches with at least 50% progress regress at a rate of 40/45/50% of gate opening speed. While they are regressing, Survivors see the exit gate lights flicker randomly.

In my opinion, these are all pretty solid perks, with Help Wanted the most likely of the three to make its way into my loadout. It’s also got the best perk name out of the lot. The weakest is probably Haywire, but I’m sure if you combo it with NOED, No Way Out, or Remember Me, you can make the endgame a living hell for the survivors.

The New Map – Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza

The inner child within me is beaming as the iconic Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria is also featured in the update. The map is full to the brim with details and iconic locations from the game, including the stage with Bonnie, Freddy, and Chica! To flesh out the rest of the map, there are also locations from one of the newer games in the FNAF series – Into the Pit – including the arcade and titular ball pit.

It’s safe to say that for the first few weeks, we’ll be seeing this map a lot. I’m certain that  FNAF fans are going to be flooding matches with map offerings, and honestly, I will be too.

Springtrap’s Cosmetics

Springtrap launches with two legendary cosmetics – Glitchtrap (from Help Wanted) and Yellow Rabbit. Excitingly, the Yellow Rabbit skin is straight out of the 2023 Five Nights at Freddy’s movie and features both the likeness and voice acting of the legendary Matthew Lillard!

Springtrap also has two very rare skins – Toxic Springtrap, which is a corroded suit that is dripping with a purplish, metallic ooze, and Clown Springtrap, where he’s dressed as … a clown!

You can also unlock FNAF-themed T-shirts for all the original survivors (i.e., not licensed characters).

Final Thoughts

So, what are you waiting for? You can officially take control of Springtrap and chase survivors around the Pizzeria right now. The update is available across all platforms (PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch), and comes along with a bunch of quality of life changes and perk balance updates. Check out the full patch notes here.

Stay tuned at JumpScared! as we cover Dead by Daylight news as soon as it drops.