We finally got our first look at Five Nights at Freddy’s in Dead by Daylight, and it’s everything we ever dreamed of. It seems developer Behaviour Interactive is strongly leaning into expanding their IP representation from other franchises in Dead by Daylight, with The Witcher gaming series also getting a cosmetics collaboration. This got our brains going as to what could come next. There’s so much potential, especially in horror, for Dead by Daylight crossovers.
Horror is a broad spectrum, ranging from the gruesome, to the cartoonish, to the outright horrifying. We’ve put together a list of the top five crossovers we need to see coming next in Dead by Daylight. Whether they’re dedicated chapters or just some character cosmetics, there are some legendary horror franchises that are just screaming for a Dead by Daylight collab!
1. The Walking Dead
Okay, we’re cheating a little bit with this one, as it might just be happening. The roadmap for the next year of content was shown off by Behaviour at their recent PAX East event, and some letters are mysteriously scratched off from the text. These letters, when combined, spell ‘THE ONES WHO LIVE’, which is the name of The Walking Dead’s spin-off miniseries following protagonists Rick and Michonne Grimes.
Zombie horror is an under-represented genre in Dead by Daylight, and The Walking Dead was incredibly popular just a few years back. With Rick and Michonne both engaging and charismatic characters, they’d make for a great survivor duo, and we’re sure they could come with some great Perks, given how much they’ve lived through in The Walking Dead!
2. Scooby-Doo
This one may be a little ambitious, as Scooby-Doo is a children’s show, and what goes on in Dead by Daylight can be a little graphic for young audiences. We don’t exactly see Warner Bros. allowing Velma to be hooked onto a spike by Ghostface any time soon, but we would absolutely love a cosmetic collaboration. To avoid the awkwardness of beloved children’s characters being attacked by horrifying murderers, perhaps we could just get some costumes from Scooby-Doo to represent our favorite characters from the Mystery Machine, whilst still playing as Dead by Daylight original characters.
There’s so much potential there – I’d love to run around as Dwight dressed up as heartthrob Fred from the iconic 2002 Scooby-Doo live-action movie, or Mikaela rocking the nerdy Velma look, complete with a fierce little bob and her glasses. It’d be a fun and colorful collaboration, something the dark and murky realms of the Entity could really afford to have a little more of.
3. Pearl
I know it’s crazy, but I think adding the wannabe star of Pearl from the recent X film trilogy would be both incredibly camp, but also extremely fitting for Dead by Daylight. The game thrives off horror movie history, particularly from the 70s and 80s, which is also where Pearl, X and Maxxxine take their influence from. Just picture it, loading into a game and seeing the iconic Pearl in a red dress chasing you down with a knife; we could even call her The Star.
We already have quite a lot of slasher representation in Dead by Daylight, but Pearl would add an extra flavor to it. Not only would she add some feminine energy to the male-dominated slasher representation, she’s also just a regular person with a clearly defined character, not someone voiceless and eternal like Ghostface or Michael Myers. Also, just imagine the cosmetics!
4. IT
For me, Pennywise the Clown from IT seems like less of a dream collaboration, and more like something of an inevitability. He’s too iconic to never make an appearance, so we’re sure eventually IT will come to the game, whether as his own separate Pennywise killer, or as a cosmetic for Dead by Daylight’s existing killer clown character.
I think it’d be more fun to see Pennywise be his own character, as his gameplay could be pretty unique. IT can transform, and whilst his clown form is the most iconic, he also has the nightmarish Spider appearance, which would be incredibly fitting for the Entity to embrace. We don’t have much in the way of animal killer representation, so I imagine IT could work somewhat similar to Castlevania’s Dracula with his alternate Vampire, Wolf and Bat forms.
5. Friday the 13th
It would just be wrong to not include it on this list. Friday the 13th has been one of the most requested Dead by Daylight crossovers ever, with fans crying out for Jason Voorhees since the game launched back in 2016. He is one of the most recognizable horror villains of all time, and incredibly noticeable as an omission when we have Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger and Leatherface. It almost feels wrong he’s not in Dead by Daylight yet, but with Friday the 13th: The Game formerly existing as a competing asymmetrical survival horror game, it’s understandable we didn’t have Jason in the game yet.
However, on the final day of 2024, Friday the 13th: The Game’s servers were discontinued completely, making the game effectively defunct due to licensing issues. There’s never been a better time for Behaviour Interactive to strike, and grab the one obvious mainstream slasher protagonist they’re missing from their collection. Call me delusional, but I can see this one maybe finally happening now that there’s no game to compete with Dead by Daylight.
That was our list of five collaborations we’re desperate to see next in Dead by Daylight. From the scrappy Scooby Doo gang to the existential alien horror of IT, I’m sure it was quite a ride. We want to hear from you next though – what is your dream Dead by Daylight crossover? Are there any more horror icons you think need a space in the game, or how about a character from a non-horror franchise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more Dead by Daylight news and gaming features like this one!
