Dead by Daylight Interview – Devs Open To More Analog Horror

Dave: The short answer is that it was an interesting theme. Dead by Daylight is a place where we want to explore all that horror can be. We had touched upon analog horror with Sadako and wanted to try our hands at it.

Dave: I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint one thing as an inspiration. I will say that the whole team really immersed itself in it. Analog horror is very accessible, and we took inspiration from a lot of mediums.

Dave: Part of The Unknown’s gameplay and a huge factor in embodying this sense of mystery has to do with perception.

What we see with its husks – it’s trying to create an illusion so that the Survivor is never sure if what he is seeing is the real deal. The Unknown really wears its name well – because you may think you know what you’ve seen, but you really can’t be sure.

Dave: Sadly, no.

Dave: I always talk about how important player feedback is to us. And it really is, and we haven’t been afraid to enact the necessary changes after a PTB when we see that it makes sense.

This time around we’ve only had to enact minor tweaks – which really speaks, I think, to the fantastic job our team has done on this Chapter.

Dave: Our preparation for All Things Wicked has not been different than with any of our Chapters. Whether we tackle K-pop, Slasher, or analog horror, our preparation is very much research-based.

We sit down and establish core pillars for the Chapter that really dictate what direction it will take.  We ask ourselves: what makes this scary? As it really boils down to that: provide our players with the scariest, funniest, and most entertaining gaming experience we can.

Dave: While these are great games, we did not research or look to emulate specific elements of this genre. Rather, we went to the essence of analog horror and focused on its crypticness and use of perception to build our Chapter pillars.

Our game has specific metrics, and we would rather develop our own unique pillars and define what makes it scary for us rather than revisit other games’ mechanics.

Dave: They’ll be able to dig deeper into both characters’ histories in the next Archives’ Tome.

Dave: Never say never, and certainly, why not? The response we’ve seen so far to this Chapter has been phenomenal. I think we’ve only scratched the surface of what analog horror can be.

Dave: I think, and it’s a very personal anecdote, but very early in our team play sessions, there would be some pretty visceral reactions to The Unknown.

A hefty mix of disgust and fear but also pride and fear – for instance, when using his power in a very clever way. And, for me, that’s when I knew we had a special character on our hands that wouldn’t leave players indifferent.

Dave: I can’t share, but what I can say is that for us, anything can be horror. So, you’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled!

Dave: I’ll speak for myself, and it is very hard to pick only one of each. I prefer playing the Killer, and I love our classics, so I’ll go with The Wraith – also because I love being invisible and surprising Survivors.