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 After a little over a year in rotation, the Killer and two Survivors that the DLC added were withdrawn from sale, only now available to those that purchased the expansion while it was live. However, some suggest that the DLC will make a comeback, and this guide outlines all the evidence suggesting why Stranger Things could be returning to Dead by Daylight.
Will Stranger Things Come Back to Dead by Daylight?
No, Stranger Things is not coming back to Dead by Daylight. In an interview with podcast Slasher Radio in June 2023, senior creative director for Behaviour Interactive Mathieu Cote asked, “have you tried to get in touch with Netflix recently?…I have.” in response to a question regarding the return of the popular series to the title. This pretty clearly indicates that Behavior Interactive had a time-limited deal with Netflix for the Stranger Things DLC. Due to there being no way to communicate on the matter, the DLC had to be pulled from stores and removed from the game. 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.
Investigating Stranger Thins leak right now as ‘Vecna’ model turned out to be fanmade. Parts of evidence provided supporting this leak is still legit for me. I would take it with grain of salt right now, although as I said, I still don’t have enough information to fully debunk it
— DBDLeaks (@LeaksDbd) June 27, 2022
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.
New Stranger Things map in the works. It’s very very early WIP and you shouldn’t expect it to come out in any near future. (1/3)#DeadbyDaylight #dbdleaks #leaksdbd #dbd pic.twitter.com/ka00eBppKk
— DBDLeaks (@LeaksDbd) July 30, 2022
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, it doesn’t seem though anything untoward was the cause.
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