The Stranger Things DLC was removed from Dead by Daylight in November 2021. After a little over a year in rotation, the Killer and two Survivors that the DLC added were withdrawn from sale, only now available to those who purchased the expansion while it was live.
The history of this DLC, its Killer, Survivors, and the incredible map it brought to Dead by Daylight have been a subject of controversy. At one point, a twist in the works looked like it would bring another new crossover to the game. Now, though, the timeline has been cleared up, and players have access to all the content ever released.
Related: Dead by Daylight: All Hatches Location
Is Stranger Things Returning to Dead by Daylight
Yes, Stranger Things has returned to Dead by Daylight. On November 6, 2023, Behaviour Interactive announced the return of the Chapter, including Killer, Survivors, and map. After years of clamoring for scraps of information about the Chapter or finding ways to play it despite it being delisted, everything players love is available once more.
We purchased the Chapter for PS5 as soon as it became available again. While we own a physical copy of the PS4 version of Dead by Daylight and the Stranger Things DLC, the visuals aren’t as good as the PS5 version of the base game. To us, it’s worth the price, even given its close proximity to the release of the Alien Chapter.
What Happened to the Stranger Things Chapter in Dead by Daylight?
In an interview with podcast Slasher Radio in June 2023, senior creative director for Behaviour Interactive Mathieu Cote asked, “Have you talked to people at Netflix recently?” in response to a question regarding the return of the popular series to the title. The host of Slasher Radio says, “I’ve tried to,” to which Cote replies, “yeah, me too.”
This pretty clearly indicates that Behavior Interactive had a time-limited deal with Netflix for the Stranger Things DLC, and that it wasn’t the developer’s decision to remove the content. Due to there being no way to communicate a new deal on the matter, the DLC had to be pulled from stores and removed from the game. Cote indicates that if they could get it back “they would be happy to.” Although a workaround for getting the Stranger Things DLC in Dead by Daylight still exists.
Cote went on to explain that the team has never had any intention of ever removing anything from the game, least of all Survivors, Killers, and DLC. However, in this case, the company’s hands were tied. The deal for the Stranger Things DLC must have had an end date, and without a renewal, the developer could have been in serious legal trouble if it didn’t remove the DLC.
Stranger Things season 4 sparked several rumors that seemed to indicate that the series would be returning to Dead by Daylight at some point in 2022. Below, we’ve broken down every rumor, explaining each one. However, all of them have been debunked because the series is not coming back to Dead by Daylight as far as Behaviour Interactive is aware.
Vecna Killer Leak
Perhaps the most exciting rumor is that Vecna, the villain from Stranger Things season 4, will become a Killer in a new version of the Stranger Things DLC for Dead by Daylight. However, the in-game model that sparked this was quickly found to be fan-made and has since been deleted. Despite the image being fan-made, the rumor that Vecna will come to the game seems to have some credence, with DBDLeaks, a prominent and accurate leaker of all things Dead by Daylight, looking into it to identify the truth behind it.
Demogorgon, Nancy, and Steve Returning in Christmas 2022
A lot of work went into creating the original Stranger Things Killer and Survivors in the Dead by Daylight DLC. While no one can expect official licenses to last forever with a live service game, fans did expect it to last longer than a year. Once again, DBDLeaks has previously stated that the DLC will return by Christmas 2022. However, as with all rumors like this, you should wait until we’ve seen official evidence or confirmation before getting excited.
New Demogorgon Gameplay Emerges
In July 2022, DBDLeaks once again shared Stranger Things content from Dead by Daylight, but this time it was new. They explained that they were confirming that the franchise would be returning to Dead by Daylight in the future, not any time soon. They also shared new footage of a Demogorgon Killer, though it looks to us that this is a very different version of the Demogorgon from the original DLC. This footage also includes a new hook animation.
What is the Stranger Things Dead by Daylight DLC?
The Stranger Things DLC for Dead by Daylight launched as a full expansion for the game. It added The Demogorgon as its new Killer and two new Survivors, Steve and Nancy from the Netflix show. The DLC also added a new map, Hawkins Laboratory, which is the only part of the DLC that has been pulled from the game for all players. At the time of writing, the Killer and Survivors are only available to those players who downloaded the DLC before it was removed from storefronts.
Why Was Stranger Things Removed From Dead by Daylight?
No one knows precisely why the Stranger Things DLC was removed from sale. However, it’s suspected that the license was revoked by Netflix. This could be down to the use of the characters from the series in the game by players or simply a contract coming to an end. It’s likely we’ll never know for sure, but with rumors of the series coming back to Dead by Daylight always popping up – despite many of them so far being false – it seems as though both fans and Behaviour Interactive want Stranger Things to return.
