Whether or not you agree with the direction BHVR has taken Dead by Daylight over the years, it’s hard to deny that they seem to be trying their best to make the game better with every update. This trend continues with today’s announcement that upcoming content like new Chapters, Rifts, Events and Collections will all be delayed in order to implement bug fixes and Quality of Life updates.
Live service games live and die by their content drip, with players often abandoning a game that doesn’t churn out the new goodies often enough. While players will loudly proclaim that they want bug fixes, it seems likely what keeps people playing is actually new stuff, not improvements to old stuff. Which makes what BHVR is doing — intentionally delaying new content in favor of cleaning up what’s already present — a very consumer-first decision. It’s also refreshing to see a company choose long term product health over quarterly profits.
The list of planned improvements is impressive, and addresses many of the very issues that drove away people I used to play with. As always, we’ve got a TL;DR for you, and you can keep reading to see the full announcement.
DBD Quality of Life Initiative 2025 TL;DR:
Surrender Feature – Available when all remaining Survivors are slugged (Survivor surrender) or are bots (Killer surrender)
Gamma Adjustments – Gamma settings will become available on all platforms
“Go-Next Prevention” – System to detect when Survivors intentionally throw a game, and punish them
Extreme Hiding & Body Blocking Prevention – AFK Crows should more accurately find and reveal AFK players; players with AFK crows will lose collision
Map Offering Nerf – Map Offerings will now increase map odds by 20% (stacking), and will be a secret (as will some other Offerings) to prevent players from tilting
Spawn Changes – Survivors will always spawn within 12 meters of each other, and on the same floor
AFK Bot Detection Buff – Better detection and punishment system for players who use AFK Bots
Bulk Bloodpoint Spending – Button to let you spend Bloodpoints in bulk
Quest System – Improvements to The Archives and Rifts, reworked Challenges and Daily Rituals
Perk Loadouts & Preview – Players will be able to see their Perk Loadouts in lobbies
Dead by Daylight Quality of Life Initiative 2025: Phase 1
Dead by Daylight will be undergoing a substantial Quality of Life Initiative, which should address many longstanding concerns and frustrations our players have been experiencing. This Initiative will take place over the course of two phases. The first runs from April to June, while the second runs from July to December. For a full look at what’s scheduled, check out the roadmap below.
To accommodate for the scope of this Initiative, we have decided to delay several of our upcoming releases – including Chapters, Rifts, Events Modifiers, and Collections. That means there will not be a PTB tomorrow, but rest assured that we did not make this decision lightly. We feel confident that delaying our upcoming releases to prioritize this Quality-of-Life Initiative will ultimately make Dead by Daylight stronger than ever. We’re always listening to our players, and this has been a long time coming. Looking for a more comprehensive breakdown of everything lined up in Phase 1? We’ve got you covered.
Surrender State
The team has been working on a Surrender feature, which should limit player frustration on both sides. To get it right, we first needed to identify the situations where its use would be most appropriate, leading us to two scenarios: – All remaining Survivors have been slugged (Survivor) – All remaining Survivors are bots (Killer) Once these instances occur, players will be able to use the Surrender option, ending the Trial while retaining the Bloodpoints they’ve earned and escaping the Disconnect Penalty.
Gamma Adjustments
Dead by Daylight can get a little dark – not just thematically — and sometimes excessive darkness can hinder playability. We’re introducing the ability to adjust Gamma settings on all platforms, allowing you to find a sweet spot without sacrificing the intended artistic direction.
“Go-Next” Prevention
The “Go-Next” expression refers to instances where a Survivor deliberately does everything in their power to quickly go to their next game – including walking up to the Killer and standing still, running to a Hook and repeatedly pointing at it, or most commonly, intentionally failing Skill Checks while on Hook. To disincentivize and properly penalize this behavior, we’ll be implementing measures that will help us identify when a player is attempting to “Go Next.” Once identified, they’ll receive a Disconnection Penalty Point and lose an entire Grade. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this system to ensure its accuracy, but we’re confident that that this will help alleviate the issue. On the other hand, we’d like to reward players who stick it out through those challenging matches, even when things take a dire turn. We’ll be moving forward with a new Emblem-based multiplier that grants additional Bloodpoints during your following match, with the bonus stacking over consecutive Trials.
Extreme Hiding & Body Blocking Prevention
“Extreme Hiding” refers to Survivors drawing out an unwinnable match by ignoring their objective and waiting out the clock. To combat this, we’re changing the way AFK Crows operate, so they can more accurately identify when a player is deliberately avoiding engagement with their gameplay objective. Once a player receives Crows, their location will be immediately revealed to the Killer. We’ll also be incorporating a feature that allows players to lose collision after receiving a third AFK Crow, which should prevent instances of Body-Block related griefing.
Map Offerings
We recognize that Map Offerings are a bit divisive; some players enjoy them, while others feel they can grant an unfair advantage. The fact that they automatically bypass both the Map and Realm repetition system can also add to that frustration. Moving forward, Map Offerings will no longer guarantee the appearance of a given Map, but rather increase its chances by 20%. Note that they will not stack. We’re also looking to make it so Map Offerings, as well as several other types of Offerings, will remain a secret during load-in – that way, your decision to remain in the match will not be swayed by external factors.
Spawn Rules
Survivor spawn placements can have a significant impact on a Trial’s outcome, an observation that has been repeatedly recognized by our community. It’s become clear that Survivors spawning separately, and thereby covering more ground, allows them to gain a notable advantage in completing their objective. We’re changing the default Survivor Spawn rules to ensure that each Survivor will spawn within 12 meters of one another, on the same floor (if applicable). To accomodate for this change, Shroud Offerings will be adjusted accordingly.
Improved AFK Bot Detection
Players that use AFK Bots can be frustrating to have in your Trial, and we’re working on improvements to our detection systems so that we can quickly identify and penalize them accordingly.
Bulk Bloodpoint Spending
To speed up general Bloodweb activity, we’re adding a button that will allow you to spend Bloodpoints in bulk.
Quest System
Previously announced last year, the Quest system is part of a larger update to The Archives and Rifts, so expect more information in an article specifically dedicated to that. For now, know that we will be reworking the Challenge system (as well as Daily Rituals) to reduce the grind, make it easier to earn rewards, and increase the overall level of fun.
Perk Loadouts & Preview
After a successful round of A/B testing, we’ll be allowing players to see their own Perk loadouts while in a lobby, as well as adding additional Perk loadout slots.
We believe these changes will be an overall benefit to Dead by Daylight’s health, further establishing a positive gaming environment for all our players. We’d also like to thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. We’ll be back at our Anniversary Broadcast in May to recap Part 1 and provide deeper insight into Part 2 of our Roadmap, so keep an eye out for that announcement. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback. Thanks for spending time in The Fog, The Dead by Daylight Team.
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
