Dead by Daylight adds Jason Voorhees, teases 2027 visual overhaul

Behaviour Interactive turned Dead by Daylight’s 10th anniversary into more than a nostalgia lap. The studio turned its June 14 celebration in Montreal’s Old Port into a full-scale statement of intent, using dev panels, meet-and-greets, gaming stations, an Art of Dead by Daylight mini-expo and the Year 10 Anniversary Broadcast to show the game is still being built for the long haul.

The biggest headline was Jason Voorhees, who finally entered The Fog after years of fan demand and what Behaviour described as a long reign as the game’s most requested character. Dead by Daylight: Jason gives the slasher the unique power Omnipresent Evil, along with three exclusive perks: Hex: Scared To Death, Silent Shadow and Rampage. Behaviour also said another major licensed addition is coming later in 2026, Art the Clown, while the next survivor chapter will introduce Shane Wiigwaas on June 25, positioning him as the game’s first Indigenous Survivor.

That character rollout matters because it lands inside a much larger anniversary message: Dead by Daylight is not trying to coast on its back catalog. Behaviour said the game launched in 2016 with three original Killers, The Trapper, The Wraith and The Hillbilly, plus four original Survivors, Dwight Fairfield, Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel and Jake Park. By the verge of the 10th anniversary, the roster had grown to 51 Survivors, a scale jump that underlines how aggressively the game has expanded its crossover model while keeping its own cast alive.

The studio is now pushing that formula into its next technical phase. Alongside the anniversary recap published on June 15, Behaviour pointed to a graphical overhaul planned for 2027, with character model reworks, stronger animation work, more expressive faces, lighting improvements and a broader modernization pass that preserves the identity of each character instead of replacing it. That approach mirrors The Realm Beyond, the visual refresh program Behaviour launched in 2020 to revisit and rejuvenate the game’s models, maps, items, props, animations and VFX while keeping the same asymmetrical horror gameplay intact.

Behaviour also backed the anniversary with collector and merch drops, including a limited-edition collection, a 10th Anniversary Collector’s Set with a statue, life-size Flashlight replica, 10 Killer Pins, 10 Art Cards and an art book cover edition, plus in-game rewards. Jason Voorhees is the clearest sign yet that Dead by Daylight is still chasing the next tentpole horror crossover, but the 2027 overhaul shows the bigger plan is to keep The Fog looking fresh enough for another decade.