Highlights
- Dead by Daylight relies on its live-service elements and ongoing updates, making a second installment unnecessary, despite its imperfections and community issues.
- The removal of Stranger Things content from Dead by Daylight, due to license expiration, creates an opportunity for a new asymmetrical horror game centered around the popular franchise.
- Asymmetrical horror games succeed or fail based on the content they offer. A Stranger Things game could thrive by gradually introducing characters and locations from each season.
Dead by Daylight isn’t exactly the pillar of what a perfect gaming community could be, nor is the game itself perfect in terms of the many issues fans have brought up in the last several years. Still, Dead by Daylight endures due to how rapidly it evolves and accumulates content rather than trying to fashion together another installment entirely. Dead by Daylight’s live-service elements keep it perpetually updated and there’s essentially no need for it to ever have a second installment anyhow due to its licenses for unoriginal DLC content coming and going.
On the other hand, that’s why one of its most popular DLCs is now but a memory passed along by longtime players that new players might never get to experience themselves. Stranger Things had a fairly big impact on Dead by Daylight and part of that significance revolved around how beloved the Netflix series was, while players also certainly enjoyed the Demogorgon as a killer and Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan as survivors. Stranger Things’ content has since been removed from Dead by Daylight following its license expiration, and that could give it an opportunity to thrive in an asymmetrical horror game of its own.
Stranger Things Deserves a Shot at the Next Licensed Asymmetrical Horror Game
Stranger Things was arguably a perfect franchise to crossover into Dead by Daylight and that effect still lingers in the game with its absence. Of course, fans who had purchased any of its content in Dead by Daylight still have access to it, but it remains a relic of the game that has been effectively moved on from by Behaviour.
There’s no telling whether Behaviour could regain the license when season five of the show airs on Netflix, and in the meantime it seems fair to presume that Dead by Daylight fans have seen the last of Stranger Things’ content in the game. That said, while Dead by Daylight surely doesn’t need Stranger Things to thrive, its popularity might be what a new asymmetrical horror game needs to hoist it up to a superb caliber.
Indeed, asymmetrical horror games like Evil Dead: The Game or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre have failed to capture audiences’ attention in the same way, and it’s likely due to how niche or limiting their content is. Not everyone will be a fan of Evil Dead, for example, while Dead by Daylight included an Ash Williams survivor amid a handful of other exciting horror IP content.
It’s pretty plain to see now that asymmetrical horror games are either successful or unsuccessful depending on the content they can bring to the table and how frequently, and a Stranger Things asymmetrical horror game could finally have the longevity fans would require from it. Stranger Things is apparently ending with five seasons but considering how beloved the franchise is, it will likely have some sort of spin-off show or other such endeavors thereafter.
Nonetheless, Stranger Things could gradually roll out content by cherry-picking characters and locations from each season to satisfy players. The only obstacle a potential developer would need to address is how to manage not having many ‘killer’ characters while it would have no shortage of ‘survivor’ characters to select from. Otherwise, the incredibly niche asymmetrical horror genre could continue to let Dead by Daylight reign supreme, and if so it would be great to see Stranger Things return to it with new characters and content in the future.
Dead by Daylight is available now for mobile devices, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
