Behaviour Interactive has finally confirmed the name that Dead by Daylight fans have been waiting for over a decade. After a decade of anticipation and a marathon 13-hour livestream, the answer is Jason Voorhees.
The iconic slasher from Friday the 13th appeared following weeks of fan speculation with a short teaser released today. He is certainly one of the most demanded Killers in the history of this long-running asymmetrical horror title. While many are relieved to see the
completed, the path to bringing Jason into the game was far from straightforward.
Dead by Daylight is set to mark its 10th anniversary this June, making expectations for the yearly celebrations incredibly high. An atypical lack of leaks meant the community relied on speculation all year. Although Jason stayed at the top of the potential Killer list, fans knew little about Behaviour’s actual plans. An unusual absence of leaks left fans to swim in a lake of rumors throughout the year.
Recent teasers filled with references to the number 13 should have indicated the Friday the 13th representative was coming, yet the horror fanbase had different theories. Predictions leading up to the reveal started seriously, with hopes for a follow-up to last year’s Five Nights at Freddy’s collaboration. Many wanted iconic monsters such as Pennywise from Stephen King’s It or Art the Clown from the Terrifier series. A series of recent teasers polluted with references to the number 13 should have felt like a dead giveaway that the Friday the 13th rep was on the way.
Speculation soon expanded to include Hello Neighbor and BioShock. When names like Jaws, a character fans have joked about for years, entered the mix, the conversation spiralled. Social channels became filled with serious predictions, memes, and chaos before Behaviour launched its anniversary livestream on May 22 at 9 p.m. ET. Fans expecting immediate answers found only a still image of a cabin in the woods.
, and pure chaos filled social channels.
A large audience remained glued to the stream featuring that single image for 13 hours.
“It’s 4 a.m. and I’m being ragebaited,” a fan wrote on Reddit. said.
“BHVR is about to turn me into the 10th anniversary killer,” another community member joked. joked.
“In a few years?” someone else replied to the post. “It’s traumatizing us right now!” said in response to the above Reddit post.
Roughly 90% of the Dead by Daylight cabin stream consisted of nothing. The remaining 10% offered eerie distractions like bird calls, a person on a bike, monsters crawling on the ground, and camera glitches. However, anticipation quickly turned into disappointment. camera glitches, and much, much more.
During the wait for a Killer reveal, many players genuinely thought Slender Man would join the roster. Some even created mock-ups for the cabin to become a playable character. Once the 13-hour mark passed, Jason was finally revealed.
Was the wait worth it? After a decade of requests, it certainly appears so, yet not everyone in the Dead by Daylight community is thrilled with the reveal’s execution.
“NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING THAT IT’D HAPPEN ONE DAY,” one Reddit user stated. stated.
“You’re telling me Jason was standing still staring at that f****ss cabin for 13 hours?” another user asked. said.
MY LIVE REACTION TO THE JASON REVEAL! pic.twitter.com/eO31yVWt4b
– SpooknJukes (@SpooknJukes)
– Outcast Andrew (@OutcastAndrew)
“I’m both happy it’s Jason finally being added, but underwhelmed by his reveal,” another person replied. “This entire setup really felt like it had nothing to do with anything related to him. The whole stream felt very analogue horror, and all of the teasers on Twitter echoed that.”
echoed that.
Concerns exist that the Friday the 13th crossover will be limited to Jason Voorhees as the Killer without Survivors or maps. Most are still trying to process seeing the machete-wielding slasher included at all.
Legal complexities surrounding Jason and Friday the 13th are rumoured to have caused his absence in Dead by Daylight for years. Behaviour has commented on this before, with game director Mathieu Cote calling the situation a “legal quagmire” and “tar pit” during a conversation with
in 2023. Now, issues keeping the horror icon from joining Killers like Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Ghostface, Dracula, Michael Myers, and Leatherface have been resolved.
Jason I knew you were the anniversary killer see check my phone https://t.co/7hYDvHYmyE pic.twitter.com/wVhN39lV1O
– Chainsaw Man for DBD (@ChainsawMan4DBD)
LETS GOOOOOO!!!! pic.twitter.com/0royYHj8LQ
– Turkey ๐ DBD EVENT ๐ (@QuestionedTurke)
https://twitter.com/QuestionedTurke/status/205820237904850037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The slasher joins Dead by Daylight as its anniversary Killer on June 16. More details on how he will enter the Fog will emerge in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can read what Behaviour had to say about its live-service secrets and learn about the Soulslike spin-off the team has been dreaming about.
