Summary
Dead by Daylightisn’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 Daylightendures due to how rapidly it evolves and accumulates content rather than trying to fashion together another installment entirely.Dead by Daylight’s live-service elementskeep 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 Thingshad a fairly big impact onDead by Daylightand 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 fromDead by Daylightfollowing its license expiration, and that could give it an opportunity to thrive in an asymmetrical horror game of its own.
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Stranger Things Deserves a Shot at the Next Licensed Asymmetrical Horror Game
Stranger Thingswas arguably a perfect franchise to crossover intoDead by Daylightand that effect still lingers in the game with its absence. Of course, fans who had purchased any of its content inDead by Daylightstill 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 thatDead by Daylightfans have seen the last ofStranger Things’ content in the game. That said, whileDead by Daylightsurely doesn’t needStranger Thingsto thrive,its popularity might be what a new asymmetrical horror game needs to hoist it up to a superb caliber.
Indeed, asymmetrical horror games likeEvil Dead: The GameorThe Texas Chain Saw Massacrehave 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 ofEvil Dead, for example, whileDead by Daylightincluded 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, andaStranger Thingsasymmetrical horror gamecould finally have the longevity fans would require from it.Stranger Thingsis 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 Thingscould 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 toletDead by Daylightreign supreme, and if so it would be great to seeStranger Thingsreturn to it with new characters and content in the future.
Dead by Daylightis available now for mobile devices, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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