The Walking Dead’s Rick and Michonne Are Coming to Dead by Daylight

What a bloody good year it’s been for Dead by Daylight.

First, we had Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul enter the Fog, followed by arguably the most anticipated killer in DBD history – Springtrap – whose arrival helped the game break records nearly a decade into its life. And now, another huge licensed crossover is on the way.

The Walking Dead’s Rick and Michonne Grimes are officially joining Dead by Daylight later this month. For Steam players, both characters are already available to test out on the Public Test Build (PTB).

Each Survivor is modeled after their TV show counterparts, with Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira’s likenesses being used. And as always, both characters come with three unique perks.

Rick Grimes Perks

Apocalyptic Ingenuity

After unlocking or rummaging through 2 chests, press Ability Button 1 for 8 seconds next to a broken pallet to build a fragile pallet.

You see the auras of broken pallets within 32 meters.

Fragile pallets are destroyed when dropped.

Come and Get Me!

After unhooking a survivor, while crouched and idle, press Ability Button 1 to make injured and dying survivors within 24 meters leave no scratch marks or pools of blood for 15 seconds.

You scream and the killer sees your aura for 5 seconds.

Teamwork: Toughen Up

When another survivor pallet-stuns or blinds the killer while you are injured and within 24 meters, your grunts of pain, scratch marks, and pools of blood are reduced by 100% for 30 seconds.

Michonne Grimes Perks

Conviction

After you have healed 1 survivor, while downed with at least 25% recovery progress, press the ability button 2 to recover instantly.

You gain broken, then are downed again after 30 seconds.

Last Stand

After spending 60 seconds in the killer’s terror radius while not in chase, when you fast-vault, stun the killer for 3 seconds if they are within 25 meters.

Then, this perk is disabled for the rest of the trial.

Teamwork: Throw Down

When you pallet-stun or blind the killer, other injured survivors within 24 meters gain endurance and see the killer’s aura for 10 seconds.

Are the Perks Any Good?

After reading through all those perk descriptions, it really feels like Rick got the short end of the stick.

Apocalyptic Ingenuity has such a long-winded requirement to activate, with not much payoff. Fragile pallets likely won’t provide much value – just look at how bad the Party Pallets are in the Anniversary Event.

Come and Get Me! has some potential, but it honestly just sounds like a worse version of Steve Harrington’s Babysitter perk, which gives unhooked survivors 30 seconds of no scratch marks or pools of blood, as well as 10% extra haste and reveals the killer’s aura to you for 8 seconds. That’s so many added extras compared to Come and Get Me!

Michonne, on the other hand, has some pretty solid perks that I think could see real use.

Conviction sounds great for certain endgame scenarios where the killer is slugging. Being able to pick yourself up gives you a chance to reposition – maybe even get to the other side of the map, pull off a key unhook or heal, or if the gate’s open and nearby, escape outright. It’s definitely a high-risk perk, but one that could be a real game-changer.

Last Stand could also be useful in specific situations, but the fact it’s a one-time use makes me hesitant to pick it over something like Lithe, which you can trigger multiple times per match to escape a chase.

As for the Teamwork perks, both feel too situational to be worth running. They might have some niche value in coordinated teams, but in solo queue, they’re going to be hard to get consistent use out of.

When Does The Walking Dead x DBD Crossover Launch

The cross-over between these two huge franchises officially launches on live servers on July 29, 2025 at 6pm BST (1pm EST).