Possible spoilers ahead for the Alan Wake series.

Dead by Daylight, from developer Behaviour Interactive, is an asymmetrical online/multiplayer horror title where a group of four Survivors must outlast and escape a lone player taking on the role of a relentless Killer, whose goal is to hunt down and sacrifice these survivors to appease an otherworldly Eldritch force. Dead by Daylight's take on the genre and its core conceptions has proved to be one of the most popular versions, and its ongoing support has provided a wealth of content, continuing to add characters on both sides of the equation.

Since its inception in 2016, the title has expanded its roster of original playable Survivors and Killers, with Dead by Daylight having hosted a range of crossovers with numerous properties over its course, growing its pool of iconic monsters and figures that are pulled from across the entire breadth and history of the horror genre and media. In an upcoming update set for January 30, writer Alan Wake, star of Remedy Entertainment's games of the same name, will join the cast of Survivors in DBD's latest Chapter, and there is already a firm grounding for why his inclusion is an excellent fit for DBD compared to some others.

Dead by Daylight has more updates planned for 2024, as well as a recently announced narrative-focused spin-off, The Casting of Frank Stone, being developed by Supermassive Games, the studio behind interactive horror titles like Until Dawn and The Quarry.

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Alan Wake 2, Dead by Daylight Devs Explain Why Alan is a Perfect Fit for a New Survivor

Alan Wake joins Dead by Daylight's roster of survivors on January 30, and developers of both games think the crossover is a natural fit.

Alan Wake Coming to Dead by Daylight Has the Best In-Universe Explanation

Alan Wake and Dead by Daylight's Worlds of Horror

Within the framework of Dead by Daylight, The Entity, a powerful Lovecraftian cosmic horror, dwells in its unnatural Realm. Drawn to acts of extreme violence and mayhem, it pulls various Killers from their native realities into DBD's setting and twisting sub-Realms. Survivors are similarly sucked into or stumble upon these alternate dimensions via traditionally eerie and haunted locales like decrepit mansions or dark secluded forests, whereupon the Entity sets the Killers loose against them in the name of sating its desire for carnage and bloodshed.

Alan Wake's main antagonist, the Dark Presence, closely resembles Dead by Daylight's Entity. It, too, is a strong supernatural being, residing in the shifting nightmare world of the Dark Place, reaching out to ensnare unsuspecting victims in order to manipulate them into enacting its own goal of possessing and enslaving humanity. Even their respective monikers are somewhat generically vague, but still applicable for the overall menace they entail and enact. Their forms (such as they are) and functions heavily mirror each other, and their ability to sway reality at will is representative of their insidious qualities and motivations.

Why Alan Wake In Dead by Daylight Makes Total Sense

Given the established canon and lore of both series, and the similarities between the setup and nature of the horrors that control their worlds, it's especially seamless in a narrative sense for Alan Wake to find himself in Dead by Daylight. The two franchises lend themselves incredibly well to integrating with each other, providing a perhaps more palatable reason than normal to justify the properties crossing over in this case, versus instances where it may seem like more of a stretch to explain a given character's presence. On top of this, Alan Wake 2's Final Draft mode's new ending shows Alan himself gaining reality-shifting powers, making it even more suiting, as he travels from a terrifying surreal landscape to another adjacent one. Alan Wake's incorporation into DBD is a spot-on choice and a true treat for fans of either game, as well as horror games overall.