Dead by Daylight Devs Say Matchmaking Rework Is a ‘Re-Imagination of How the Game Is Played’

The Dead by Daylight team at Behaviour Interactive has opened up about what they say are “significant” changes coming with their upcoming matchmaking rework.

Head of partnerships Mathieu Cote and creative director Dave Richard offered an update on their multiplayer rework plans during a conversation with IGN at the Game Developers Conference 2026 (GDC). After promising a “revamp” last summer, they tell players they can still expect to see a matchmaking rework, teasing adjustments that will be more than a few minor tweaks.

“We’re changing it in a very significant way,” Richard said. “People that have been with us for a long time, for 10 years, will recognize some of the past matchmaking that we have, the best parts of it, and the parts that are functioning now about the matchmaking are still going to be there.”

He goes on, calling the upcoming tweaks a “re-imagination” that falls more in line with what makes Dead by Daylight special. That means emphasizing the stories that emerge from its asymmetrical horror formula while maintaining what already works.

“So it’s going to be a re-imagination of how the game is played that is more aligned with our values as a game, where it’s a game about scenarios, it’s a game about, of course, being matched in a way that it feels balanced, but it’s not about winning, it’s about these experiences. And we want to allow every player to have the choice to play the game as they want, and to evolve in that style of play, rather than encouraging one that is really competitive.”

One of the areas Behaviour is looking to address with its Dead by Daylight matchmaking changes involves making matches feel less “binary.” Richard says the experience was never meant to be this way, explaining that the team wants to reward players who, for example, go out of their way to save fellow Survivors, even if it results in their demise at the hands of a Killer.

Cote clarifies that refining matchmaking to reflect an experience that rewards different experiences is “difficult,” saying that the “scoring at the end of the game has always purposely been fake” because “that’s not the point.”

“The point was to be thrown into chaos, make the best of it, live some really interesting moments and have things surprise you, things that had never happened before,” he continued. “But to have that, it means you have to have all of those, a world of possibilities that could happen, so that some of them would. And that is not conducive to extremely calibrated, competitive game play. So that’s sort of the call we made. And now matchmaking needs to reflect that in some way.”

Behaviour is adamant that there is no wrong way to play Dead by Daylight, and the matchmaking rework is aimed to help make that clear for players. The original promise was to see it launch at an unspecified point after February 2026. Although no specific release date has been set, Cote says it is “very likely” that fans will at least hear more before the end of 2026.

“It’s in some of our top things we’re working on,” Richard added.

Dead by Daylight will celebrate its 10th anniversary this June. The long-running multiplayer game is currently in the midst of its latest chapter, All Kill: Comeback. For more, be sure to keep an eye out for our full interview with Richard and Cote. You can also read about Behaviour’s secret to making a live-service game and why fans shouldn’t expect to see Dead by Daylight 2 anytime soon.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).