Two Weeks Back in Dead by Daylight in 2026

Behaviour Interactive has been working on Dead by Daylight for 10 years, and during its 10th anniversary event, I decided to return to the game after 2 years of being absent. I’ve been playing the game for two weeks religiously now to see if it’s still worth playing, and what I found was this game continues to thrive, and has a variety of new content that simply expanded the 4v1 horror online game to heights that feel familiar but exciting for returning players.

What did I miss?

The last time I logged into the game was back in 2024. And since then, I didn’t realize how much new content would pile up in just a couple of years. My return to the game made me experience Killers such as the animatronic from Five Nights at Freddy’s, the main character from the anime Tokyo Ghoul, a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise, Dracula from Castlevania, Vecna from Stranger Things, plus at least four original killers, and more. With Jason from Friday the 13th finally in the game, Dead by Daylight has a whopping 42 Killers to choose from.

Based on the 10th anniversary broadcast event, the developers are not slowing down as they have laid out what to expect in future chapters, as they are working on a Casting of Frank Stone Chapter, and a Terrifier chapter.

On the Survivor side, which now has 52 playable characters, players can play a variety of new and familiar faces, even based on other worlds like Alan Wake, Lara Croft, and even Nicolas Cage joining the roster.

All of these additions come with new perks that expand both sides of the game, so I’m not surprised to feel a bit overwhelmed in the first few hours of the game.

Then, we have new maps, a few reworks of older Killers, but that’s really it as the gameplay itself remains the same. The content is wider, but the core gameplay loop stayed relatively the same, making me jump back in relatively easily as the rust I had to shake off was mostly the chase between Survivor and Killer, as it took me hours to find success again on either role.

Week 1 - the release of Jason

That’s what the first week back was mostly focused on; remembering how to be efficient in the game. I focused on Survivor first and thanks to Jason officially releasing this week, 90% of my matches were against the slasher, which felt like a ranged Killer to me (thanks to him being able to throw spears), that can teleport to areas, giving the impression that Jason can come from anywhere, which is a fitting power for the iconic character.

It was mostly touch and go, but thanks to me relearning everything, I could feel that old tension return when working on a Generator as I was anxious where the Killer will appear. I wasn’t confident when i’m chased as I don’t remember how to properly use Pallets, an interactable object that serves as the lifeline for Survivors. This sense of tension is what I missed as back in 2024, I wasn’t feeling that thanks to the experience I had, as I was eager for the chase as I recall.

The mind games in Dead by Daylight remain the same as well for both sides. The jukes, the proper routes for specific tiles and maps, how to maximize the God Pallet in Shack, mostly everything is the way it was, with the exception of the anti-camping system that now punishes Killers for staying too close to a hooked Survivor, and basekit anti-tunneling protections that stop Killers from immediately re-targeting a Survivor right off hook.

Stepping out and then jumping in felt like the right call as my return reminded me how unique this game is as it remains the king of a type of game that not many can replicate at the level Behaviour Interactive is in right now.

Polish and quality-of-life improvements shine here as I used to play the game without quests updating in real-time while in a match, as before, I had to guess if I completed it or not. Bloodpoints, the game's resource for leveling up characters, can now be spent automatically thanks to an auto spend feature, lessening the time for you clicking each node one by one, the only method of progression. The UI felt more clean and organized during the menu, and I can finally search for a perk by typing the name when fixing the loadout, as there are times where I would spend a minute struggling to find a perk I want to add on my build.

These are small additions, but additions that smoothened out the overall experience of the game, which does wonders for a returning player. This type of polish resulted in me itching to log in each day, and the more I spend time with the game, the more eager I go out of my comfort zone, as by the end of the first weekend, I was making unique perk builds with new perks I just unlocked, and the satisfaction of finding a new batch of perks that complement my playstyle does wonders to my enjoyment.

After a few days back, it felt like I was slipping into the same routine I had two years ago. Game after game, chasing Tome challenges, pushing new prestige levels on characters I liked playing. I noticed it happening, and I let it happen anyway as I was enjoying it.

That pull only got stronger in week two, once I started bouncing between Survivor and Killer.

Week 2 - 10th Anniversary event

During week 2, my addiction has set in. The urge to play the game is daily now as I’ve completed Dead by Daylight’s current battle pass and have now found the confidence to play as the Killer, the most intimidating role in the game as you are effectively going through a 4v1 situation each match. You against a team.

It was frustrating at first, as being the Killer got me raging on how amazingly good players are in this game. It felt like all of the Survivors I went against had no fear and felt like esports players doing the most efficient way with the most meta builds to have the biggest chances of success in a match. With so much power, I felt helpless, which then made me question the game’s matchmaking system.

During my time back, it never felt like I was playing with players who were also returning, rusty, and just looking for a good time. Either Survivor or Killer, it felt like the only way I can enter the pool is through the deep end with no one to help you. I was playing with or against players that play this game like a religion. Returning players will feel the pressure, so don’t expect a warm welcome after years or months away from the game.

Sadly, I can’t comment on how the experience would be for new players as I hope they are not paired up with players that have over 10,000 hours on this game. There has to be a sophisticated matchmaking system to help newcomers on either role to not feel discouraged to play due to their inexperience. For returning players, it feels like we are out of luck; we just have to relearn fast. In my case, I did, as I slowly got my groove and found wins even as the Killer eventually.

The pressure is there though. It’s stressful and serious as it felt like I was playing a competitive esports match. It felt all too serious to a point that my left shoulder muscle started to feel more tight than usual, signaling that playing Killer was actually adding stress.

It’s insane to feel that, and a clear showing that there’s a crazy amount of people that play this game at the sweatiest level. That's reflected in queue times too. On a good day, I can find a match in under a minute.

The Black Banquet event

While exploring the Killer role, I was playing in the anniversary event mode, a limited-time event called The Black Banquet that adds unique abilities that essentially make Survivors superheroes, as eating food during the event can give you benefits like negative one hit from the Killer, a burst of speed, to even invisibility. If you put plates of food at the dinner table, they even add more bonuses for the Survivor team, like a free heal when set. Fun stuff for Survivors, but what do Killers get? Poison vials that slow down Survivors.

It’s probably one of the worst limited-time events they have ever done, but it’s still one of the most rewarding as you get a lot of Bloodpoints for participating, resulting in leveling up a good number of new characters to max multiple times.

It’s good to see Dead by Daylight get unique game modes to change things up. What I haven’t experienced is the 2v8 game mode that shows up every now and then. Hopefully, when the next 2v8 event shows up, I’ll still be interested in playing, as eight survivors running away from two Killers sounds like complete chaos.

The urge to spend is not present

The biggest surprise after spending countless hours these two weeks? I never felt the urge to spend big. I spent a little to get characters like Lara Croft for less than PHP 150 at 30% off thanks to most of its previous content being on sale during the anniversary celebration. The battle pass can ideally be bought once as completing one rewards you with enough premium currency for the next battle pass, meaning avid players effectively never have to pay again for cosmetic rewards in the future.

I also never get the urge to get specific characters for certain perks as old perks remain just as effective in 2026, so you won’t feel outdated. For a returning player, this is a good feeling as it didn’t feel like I needed to spend to catch up. All I needed to do was play and just go nuts, and that’s what I did.

Dead by Daylight is in a good spot as the player base is healthy with the community pretty much complaining and talking about the same issues. Content creators I follow about this game are also doing the same type of content, and any drama around the game feels similar to what it was a couple of years ago, giving me the impression that the player base is in its own never-ending loop.

If you loved the game but stepped away for some reason, you’ll love where the game is currently at, but if you left the game for specific reasons like how the community is overall or how the gameplay loop feels, don’t expect any major change as that remains mostly the same. But I mark that as a good thing. That’s a healthy and passionate community, backing up a game that is being well-maintained by a studio that knows where they want the game to go after 10 years of working on the game. I don’t know if I’ll be playing religiously as I am now, but it’s clear that this 4v1 online horror game is still thriving, and I don’t see any signs of it slowing down five years from now.

You might also like: My two weeks back in The Elder Scrolls Online in 2026

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About the Author - Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.