We love Dead By Daylight here at Turtle Beach, so when we got the opportunity to speak to some of the team ahead of their big DBD Anniversary event, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
As part of a Q&A with Turtle Beach (and other outlets who we’ve linked to) the team of course went into more detail regarding some of the main reveals on the day, like Chapter 24 and The Dredge. However, the team also had plenty to say on everything from Funko Pops, to more details on Hooked on You: A Dead By Daylight Dating Sim.
A big thanks to Stefan Beauchamp-Daniel (Senior Producer), Marie Claude Bernard (Director, Marketing Communications), Mathieu Côté (Head of Partnerships) and Dave Richard (Creative Director) from the Behaviour Interactive team for taking the time to talk to us. Now enough waffle, here’s the Q&A!
Do note: The Q&A topics jumped around a bit, so we've put it into sections.
Questions About The Dating Simulator ‘Hooked On You’
So a question about the dating sim Hooked On You. If there’s a positive reception from fans will we see additional characters added, like for instance, the Trickster, in new instalments or is that too far out to think about? (Via Polygon).
Mathieu Côté – It’s certainly something that we’ve discussed you’re absolutely right. We’re gonna be feeding the thirst, but a lot of people have their favourites. A lot of people have their own fan relationships established, we know that a lot of people asking for their favourite characters in there. So yes, if this one does well, there’s nothing in the world that’s gonna stop us from doing more.
Will there be a survivor version of the dating sim? (Via GaymingMag)
Mathieu Côté – That’s the same answer really. I mean, it would probably be a little different because of the sort of the twist that we put on the current one. But yeah, absolutely. The desires of our fans are not restrained to the killers.
When it came to picking characters for the dating simulator, you narrowed it down to the Trapper, the Huntress, the Wraith and the Spirit because you thought they would do the most interesting ones to focus on first. Could you maybe explain why you opted for those four characters in particular?
Mathieu Côté – Well we had to pick and it was a tough choice, honestly. Because you’re right. It could have been others. A lot of these are very interesting traits. So, we, we had to pick. We took some of the most popular ones. Obviously, the Trapper had to be there because I mean, he would not have forgiven us if we had chosen someone else. But the Huntress, the Spirit and the Wraith are our classics. I mean, I could try to give reasons, but I’m not even sure they’re the right reasons. People will obviously say ‘why didn’t you pick the twins’ etc, but people will be asking for their favourite and we’ll have to live with that, until the next episode.
Is there a chance to see the dating sim on console [platforms] in the future?
Mathieu Côté – It’s a possibility. I mean if there’s huge interest from people we always try to make it available to as many of our fans as possible. We also understand that the DBD community is not restrained to the PC. So we have to keep that in mind for sure.
With the Dating Sims happening, does this mean Dead By Daylight will be going to other mediums? For instance, will we see a Dead By Daylight RPG game like Until Dawn in the future? (Via GaymingMag)
Mathieu Côté – It would make sense, to think that…
Questions About The Dredge
You mentioned that The Dredge is based on the boogeyman archetype. I was wondering if there, there were any particular places, you drew inspiration from when creating the character, any particular movies, other games, or urban legends?
Dave Richard – The main inspiration at the beginning of the whole process was the boogeyman. I grew up with a specific boogeyman urban legend in mind, but after no searching online, globally in all cultures there are different ‘boogeymen’ that exist. So we took inspiration from that mainly, for our art team for the look of the character and different nightmares. Disgusting biology that creeped us out was also a big part of the inspiration.
The ability for the Dredge to utilise lockers in a somewhat similar way to survivors, is a great way to turn typical gameplay on its head, and a reverse of boons for survivors. Are there more plans for more features like this in the future? (Via Dexerto)
Dave Richard – Well definitely, I can’t really talk about specifics, but as we go through the various chapters we always analyse the parts of our game where gameplay is missing, right? And these are always fun places to explore. So of course, doing a counter to something that already exists is really interesting to us. Of course, we’ll go in that space again.
The Dredge is very visually inventive. He has like multiple limbs, including that big hook one. He has that big head going on. I know other developers, for instance on Dead Space with the Necromorph, they spoke about looking at pictures of car crash victims. I’m wondering with a killer that isn’t a humanoid and is very gruesome, how do you get visual inspiration for that. (Via Polygon)
Dave Richard – So that’s a very fun part of the process. We would look at all sorts of references from art pieces to interpretations of nightmares and, you know, different sickness and body injuries. That’s all part of our reference work when creating characters also. I mean, hope this answers the question and I wanted to say at the same time that the customisation of this character is going to be really fun and unique. So the killer is still in three parts, like all the other killers, but this time, because its anatomy is really weird, there are some bone structures within the character that are either visible or not, depending on the parts that you equip.
So the players will really be able to customise their creature and make a unique monster, and also with different limbs, tails, eyes so that’s gonna be really cool as well.
Questions About Chapter 24 (Map & Haddie Kaur)
When it came to devising a new map, what do you think makes this one feel unique and stand out from the rest of the existing realms.
Dave Richard – Well, gameplay, wise… actually, let me start with visually because that also impacts the gameplay. This map is visually stunning. It features a different type of lighting. That’s very dramatic. And a lot of vegetation around the house. So that gave us well the level design team, a lot of opportunities to change our players and how they perceive their space and now they strategize around that space.
You know, in chases and in hiding. The house itself, its layout is something different that’s going to be fun to explore and learn and knowing how to chase and hide. It also has a roof section, which is pretty interesting. Personally, when I play Killer I like to use this spot to find survivors in the forest area. So it’s a nice scouting feature, especially since the forest area is quite dense, like it’s one of the more vegetation dense maps that we’ve ever done, so that roof definitely changes how you play.
Since we’re adding Haddier Kaur in this chapter, can we expect more tie-ins with the greater lore, the archives and more events to sort of give hints as to the future of the game [and characters]?
Dave Richard – Yeah, definitely. I mean, this is something that’s been on our task list for a long time. The archive has been built, of course, to be able to offer these important stories. And for now we’ve seen backstories or in the moment things that are happening, mostly, but we want to use it to expand the universe, and to move forward into the narrative of the game as well. So, it’s definitely something to look out for.
The DBD Team Discuss Killers (Past, Present & Future)
Would the team maybe be able to explain some of the thinking that goes into selecting some of the licenced killers and how you kind of narrow down who to pick and what factors go into who you approach.
Mathieu Côté – I mean it’s a team effort. Most of the time whenever we talk about a possible new collaboration or an extension of an existing one it’s a conversation between Dave and Stefan and Jerome who is our senior product manager. We essentially look at it and try to evaluate it from all those different angles. Stefan may chime in and say ‘Yeah, I don’t think we can do this. It’s way too complicated. It’s not going to fit within our timeline.’ But then Jerome will say ‘yeh but it’s the biggest licence out there. We have to bring it into the product’ and maybe Dave says ‘yeah, that’s so cool like literally I have some ideas, how to make this power into something that will turn DBD on its head. And so, it’s sort of a push, and pull.
Whereas on my side it’s about opportunities. Some people reach out to us and ask us ‘Hey, are you interested in doing a collaboration with us’ and in other times I have a list and I have to try to find someone who’s got hold of something on my list and try to make it happen. I mean, it’s now a very short list, of the legends who are not yet in Dead By Daylight. The conversations have become a lot more intense now when we decide who makes it into DBD and what the next stuff is. The bar is high to see if you’re big enough in DBD.
In terms of when you’re making those original killers, how long does that process take? With a licenced killer I’m guessing you have a framework to work with, but for something like the Dredge which is just an idea, how long does that process take creating the killer from concept to completion?
Dave Richard – It’s a great question. There is some complexity on original killers that are different from licenced material. You’re correct in saying that when you receive a licence, you have a sandbox already in place, with which you can, you know, find creative space. When we do an original killer it’s part of my job to make sure there is a sandbox in place. If it’s too free, we lose sight of what we’re trying to do, So creating these boundaries and making sure that we create within these boundaries as a team to, you know, add the best content as possible is what is the added challenge of an original killer. And it’s quite a lengthy process.
If the team could collaborate with any other piece of media or IP, they wanted, what would they choose and why. (Via The Loadout)
Mathieu Côté – Can we even answer that, legally? …. I used to say like five years ago and four years ago, I used to say Pinhead was the one that I wanted to see in Dead By Daylight. Like for me, he was the one that I thought was so iconic and so good, but now he’s in.
So yeah. I could talk about the shortlist that we have, but it’s difficult because we have ongoing conversations with some of these people. I guess you can guess four out of the five…
Miscellaneous Questions (Gameplay, Funko Pops & LGBTQ+ characters)
With how the killers have to have larger than life powers, how do you go about doing that without them being too powerful and keeping them balanced?
Dave Richard – So I was talking before about a lengthy process and gameplay is definitely part of it. So we start very early with a fantasy of a power that we would like to see in that gameplay space that hasn’t been explored or that we think is, you know, particularly interesting at the moment. Then over several months of implementing that gameplay we go through several rounds of prototypes, internal playtests, and external playtests. The PTB, you know, all of these gates through the normal process means that we review and we make sure that the power is fun on both sides. You know, as you’re using it, you feel powerful and you have something unique and as the survivor you feel that you can counter it and it’s fun to be scared of that power.
Are you satisfied with the reaction to David King? And can we expect more LGBTQ+ characters in the future?
Dave Richard – Absolutely. I am super pleased and I know that a lot of people on the team are as well about the reaction of our community to David King. I mean, we’ve seen David is being utilised even more than before and he was already a very popular character. Will we see more? Yes, it’s definitely part of our strategy. We don’t want David Kings narrative to be token, to be just a checkbox. So there’s definitely other narratives in the LGBTQ+ community which we will add in any future.
Are Funko Pops still coming? (Via Screenrant)
Mathieu Côté – Are we talking about this?… ok well yes, they very much are. I don’t think we have here the imagery but definitely tune into the show tomorrow and you’ll have more information on that. The main reason for the delays is that as you may very well know, any manufactured product is much more difficult to get done in these times that we’re living in right now. So there were delays that we did not foresee. [On the four characters] We have the Doctor, the Huntress, Claudette, and the Wraith.
