Dead by Daylight has a problem. Well, it has multiple problems. Last week, a photosensitivity bug that could occur while playing as a killer called The Trickster appeared. This bug caused the screen to flash with a pink color repeatedly. While some players have reported going to the hospital due to seizures caused by this event, BHVR was very slow to act. This has shone a light on some other serious problems plaguing Dead by Daylight. These problems could be catastrophic for the company if nothing is done.
Dead By Daylight is Riddled with Bugs
Here’s a quick rundown of the current bugs in Dead by Daylight. Sable Ward received a “Beachfront Massacre” skin. When hooked, Sable’s bikini top might move in such a way that gives players the knowledge that DBD renders survivors to be anatomically correct as Ward’s right breast becomes fully visible, an unintended aspect of the skin.
Deliverance is a popular perk with survivors. The perk’s description is “After performing a Safe Hook Rescue on another Survivor, Deliverance activates: Grants the ability to successfully unhook yourself.” This perk only works if one has not been previously hooked. After unhooking, the player is afflicted with broken for some time. Notmayme posted a video showing Deliverance giving the broken status but not freeing Sable from the hook.
The Knight has a power called Guardia Campaignia. This allowed The Knight to send one of his three ghostly guards to patrol an area for survivors. There is a current bug that traps Survivors in lockers. If a survivor runs into a locker while being chased by one of these guards and if the survivor is downed, they are locked within and the killer is no longer able to open said locker. The survivor is stuck until the game ends or the player disconnects. These are not all the bugs.
The problem is not just with bugs but with fixing bugs. In 2022, Dead by Daylight welcomed a second round of Resident Evil characters. Ada Wong was given a perk called “Wire Tap.” This perk, when used, allowed Ada to place a tap on generators, After Wiretap was created, Blast Mine, a popular perk received a nerf. Blast Mine allowed survivors to place the mine on generators. When a kicker tried to kick the gen to regress it, the mine would explode and blind the killer.
If a generator was completed, Blast Mine previously returned to characters for use. When Wire Tap was created, this returning power disappeared. Why? Developer John Wang tweeted: “The blast mine not expiring when timing out wasn’t the original intention, but it only got fixed when i reworked gen perks for wiretap, but maybe they’ll both be changed again?”
Blast Mine’s original power was due to a bug in the system. Either BHVR was unaware of the bug (which is problematic for a game company) or the bug could not be fixed until the creation of Wire Tap.
The problem with Dead by Daylight exists with the size of the code. The more code that exists, the more clutter and the more problems. BHVR needs to take a cue from Mojang. Minecraft has existed for 10+ years and over time the code became bloated. What did Mojang do? A team worked in the background tidying up the code while still releasing new content. Considering BHVR just released over 90 employees, it is unlikely this will occur.
Problems with Communication
July 5th saw The Trickster finally killswitched after days of complaints from fans. The photosensitivity bug warranted this act to occur sooner but little happened. Why was BHVR so slow to perform this action? An answer might be poor communication. When news of the bug gained traction in late June/early July, Eric Pope, Community Manager, stated only one video existed of said bug. Players of the game claimed otherwise.
It would be easy to claim Pope was lying to the fanbase but the benefit of the doubt should be given to Dead by Daylight’s community manager. He was likely answering the player base with the information he was given at the time of these complaints. It should be noted that he encouraged players to pass on information to him through DM’s and would make sure to give the information to the appropriate people.
The worst part of this is the lack of communication given by BHVR to those with photosensitivity issues. On July 3rd, Dead by Daylight’s Twitter account stated their team could not reproduce the bug. No information concerning what the bug could do was given. Those ignorant of its effects had to have an explanation given to them by other players. No in-game warning was given until Trickster was killswitched.
To make matters worse, the earliest big report on the subject was on May 23, 2024, by community member Valse_. The report is still under review. If this was known two months ago, why did community members like Chey have to spur BHVR to action? No warning was offered until July 5th. BHVR/DBD has to do a better job communicating. This is especially true with something as serious as a life-endangering bug.
BHVR’s Problems with Listening
Skill-Based Match Making was introduced to DBD in September 2021. Earlier in January of the same year, Dead by Daylight live-streamed a Q and A addressing various issues. One of the most important issues was SBMM. Many were against this idea. How would SMBB be addressed?
During the live stream, one dev wanted to address players’ misconceptions about the SBMM system. Would skill come into play? The developer gave an oversimplified concept of SMBB saying it was like a game of hockey. Skill is only shown if a team wins. This example led to the developer saying skill for survivors would be seen only if a survivor escaped. Skill for a killer only occurred when kills were accrued.
To quote from A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “This has made a lot of people angry, and been widely regarded as a bad move.” Dead by Daylight Content Creator Dowsey made a video called “When Devs Don’t Understand Their Own Game – Dead by Daylight” where he pointed out contradictions spoken by the same developer in different streams. BHVR answered by removing special skins the developers give to certain content creators.
Dowsey began to prove the “kills = skill” as inaccurate by showing how kills could occur with very little effort on the part of the one playing the killer. Seven killers were nerfed as a result. Rather than admit that SBMM was a poor idea, Dead by Daylight continued to push forward. Now, DBD is stuck in an unbearable META with many survivors and killers running the same perks.
How has BHVR responded to this META? Nerfing the most popular perks to the point of almost being unusable. Players would find a new META to use and BHVR would nerf that. Certain streamers and Fog Whisperers would state the healthiest thing to do would be to buff the perks not being used. BHVR persisted in doing things their way. This led to unhealthy playstyles on both sides of the game.
One bright spot in this story is the next patch going through buffs a few of the weaker perks for killers and survivors. It seems BHVR is starting to listen. Imagine what good could have been done for the game had the company been willing to listen to players in the beginning.
Please do not assume this article is written to trash Dead by Daylight. This is written by someone who has been a fan since the first Resident Evil DLC was released in June 2021. This is written by one who wishes to see the game continue to succeed. But the fact is that until BHVR begins to address these issues, these problems will eventually wear away the player base until there is nothing left.
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