Dead by Daylight grew out of Behaviour Interactive’s long-running interest in letting players become the horror villain. The idea clicked when the studio turned it into a stark game of hide-and-seek: one powerful Killer hunts a group of vulnerable Survivors. Behaviour tested that premise in prototypes, chose Unreal Engine 4 for the project, and released the game on PC on June 14, 2016.
The idea began with playing the villain
Behaviour’s interest in horror predated Dead by Daylight. In a 2017 retrospective, Mathieu Cote, then Game Director at Behaviour Digital, recalled that the studio kept returning to “the idea of playing as the bad guy.” The team considered different horror roles, including a slasher and a haunting presence that could drive people insane, and explored the concept through prototypes ranging from board games to playable builds.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Cote said publishers at the time were skeptical about demand for horror games. Behaviour tried a humorous take on the idea, which became Naughty Bear, but that experiment did not satisfy the studio’s desire to make a horror game. The account is Cote’s later recollection, not a complete production chronology. Read his 2017 Xbox Wire essay.
Hide-and-seek made the premise playable
The creative turning point was reducing the fantasy to a simple, readable conflict: a vulnerable character tries to escape an overwhelmingly dangerous pursuer. Cote recalled Behaviour prototyping hide-and-seek, including a rudimentary setup in which a piece of cardboard blocked one player from seeing the other player’s screen. Even in that simple, unbalanced form, the team saw the appeal.
#1 Best Overall
- Play as 5 new resourceful Survivors with their own unique Perks!
- Play as 5 new Killers with horrifying Powers that defy logic to hunt your prey!
- Customize your experience with all-new Perks and set-up options!
- Bring the game to life with 10 hauntingly detailed miniature figurines!
That became the game’s defining asymmetry: Survivors evade and hide while a single Killer hunts them. The specific characters, settings and systems could develop around that relationship, but the basic tension was already present in the prototype. Cote described the core as “a weak and vulnerable character running away from an unstoppable murder beast.”
Why Behaviour chose Unreal Engine 4
In an October 2016 interview, Technical Director Fadi Beyrouti and Creative Director Dave Richard said Behaviour had toyed with asymmetrical horror for a long time, but technology, risk and other constraints had previously made the concept difficult to pursue. The idea was set aside and reshaped until the studio could attempt it with fewer compromises. Their interview provides selected technical context, not a detailed timeline of every prototype or production decision. Read the Unreal Engine interview.
The first prototype ran in a different engine. Behaviour selected Unreal Engine 4 for several capabilities the developers considered useful to the project:
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
- Multiplayer and networking support: central to a game built around players taking opposing roles online.
- Animation tools: important for a horror game whose threat and reactions depend on character movement.
- Modifiable source code: the team valued being able to adjust the engine to its needs.
- Frequent updates: the developers cited the engine’s update cadence as another advantage.
Beyrouti and Richard said Blueprint helped accelerate development, while the production used C++ to create a controlled framework that Blueprint could extend. These are the developers’ stated reasons and workflow, rather than an independent comparison of engines.
Atmosphere had to work as part of the gameplay
For Behaviour’s developers, horror presentation and competitive balance were intertwined. In their account, procedural generation meant lighting could not simply be baked into every environment or adjusted as a visual shortcut. Vegetation and mist had to contribute to the mood while also affecting how players hid, searched and interpreted what they saw.
Rank #2
- EXPAND YOUR GAMEPLAY – Take your Dead by Daylight board game further with 5 new Survivors and 5 terrifying Killers, each with unique abilities for fresh strategies and tension. Requires the base set to play.
- HORROR-THEMED STRATEGY – Escape or become the ultimate ghost killer game villain with new Perks and Powers that heighten suspense and excitement. Will you survive the night or fall to the darkness?
- DETAILED MINIATURES – Includes 10 hauntingly sculpted miniatures, bringing characters to life with eerie precision. A must-have for fans of horror board games, collectible art, and immersive tabletop play.
- MULTIPLE WAYS TO PLAY – Customize matches with new setup options, creating fresh scenarios for replayability. Whether you love betrayal, hidden movement, or outsmarting foes, this expansion enhances your Dead by Daylight experience.
- PERFECT FOR HORROR FANS – Great for teens, adults, and couples who love strategy, tabletop, or party games. A top pick for game nights, mystery lovers, and fans of monsters and survival horror.
The developers said they relied on rules, metrics, testing and analytics to balance those elements, then adjusted the game as players discovered new tactics. That description explains their approach; it does not establish independent verification of the studio’s testing methods or results.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Dead by Daylight launched in 2016
Dead by Daylight launched on PC through Steam on June 14, 2016. In a June 21 announcement, publishing partner Starbreeze AB reported that the game had sold more than 270,000 units in its first week and had held the top position on Steam’s sales charts. Those are Starbreeze’s contemporaneous figures, not independently audited totals. The announcement described Behaviour Digital as the development studio and the game’s central setup as one Killer hunting four Survivors. Read Starbreeze’s June 2016 announcement.
Starbreeze described the release as the first publishing partnership between the companies. Behaviour Interactive CEO Rémi Racine said Starbreeze believed in the studio’s vision and provided creative freedom and support. Both statements come from the partners themselves, but they help explain the relationship behind the launch.
How the game’s scale changed
The launch-era sales report and later player totals measure different things and should not be treated as a single sales-growth series. In its June 2026 anniversary announcement, Behaviour Interactive said Dead by Daylight had reached more than 70 million players over ten years. That is a company-reported player figure, not a count of copies sold.
The same announcement said the game added more than six million players in 2025 and that revenue had increased by more than 50% over the prior twelve months. Behaviour also said 30 people launched the game in 2016 and that the project team had grown to nearly 500 by the 2026 announcement. These are figures reported by the company in June 2026. Racine also recalled that the original sales forecast was around 300,000 copies; this was a later recollection of a forecast, not a directly comparable measure to Starbreeze’s first-week unit report. Read Behaviour Interactive’s 2026 anniversary announcement.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →
