Dead by Daylight has just proven it has the staying power that trumps all comers in the horror space, hitting a new all-time high peak player count on Steam, a mighty ten years after launch. The game, which is one of the most beloved games in the business and has unbelievable energy right now, just underwent a huge anniversary update and received one of the most-wanted killers ever.
Today, on June 16, just over a decade to the day since Dead by Daylight was released, an all-new chapter surfaced introducing Jason Voorhees to the slasher-backed universe. The latest chapter has been incredibly well received by fans, and thanks to a massive sale, the game is doing better than ever.
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The New Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight won’t ever get a sequel; that much was confirmed recently by the team at Behaviour Interactive. But it doesn’t necessarily need one, if the latest numbers are anything to go by.
Now that Jason Voorhees’ chapter has landed in DBD, the game has skyrocketed up the charts, hitting an eye-watering peak player count on Steam of 125,820, edging out the previous record by a good five thousand players.
Amazingly, Dead by Daylight has consistently done something that drastically few live service titles have managed to do over the years… It has gotten more popular with age.
In 2019, it hit a peak of around 75,000 players. Then, in 2021, around 105,000 players racked up the concurrency record. By 2025, DBD was looking at a peak of 120,000 players, and finally, today, it has climbed just beyond 125,000 concurrent users on Steam.
That’s a rare performance.
Jason Voorhees is arguably the most iconic horror character of all time (I might get in trouble for saying that), and his arrival in Dead by Daylight is easily what is driving up these numbers. It also helps that the game is currently 60% off on Steam, of course.
Have you jumped back into Dead by Daylight to experience Jason’s arrival? Let us know what you think about the update on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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