How Montreal’s Behaviour turned Dead by Daylight into the world’s biggest horror game

Montreal’s Old Port looked like something out of a horror film this weekend. On June 14, the Grand Quay was filled with massive crowds adorned in bloody civilian clothes and the outfits of icons like Scream‘s Ghostface, Silent Hill‘s Pyramid Head, and Five Nights at Freddy’s Freddy Fazbear. Inside the venue, all kinds of macabre props were strewn about, drenched in dim, eerie red lighting and thick, moody fog effects.

But contrary to what a confused passerby might think, this wasn’t for a Comic-Con or some other kind of general pop-culture show. No, it was for a single video game, Dead by Daylight, made by Montreal-based Behaviour Interactive, Canada’s largest independent game developer. The Grand Quay event was held in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Behaviour’s multiplayer horror game, and it brought in more than 3,000 global fans from the likes of Guam, Ireland and Japan. It speaks to the wider popularity of DbD, which has amassed more than 70 million players to date, making it the most-played horror game in history and one of the most successful ongoing multiplayer games, period.

“I’m giddy,” says Dave Richard, DbD senior creative director, when asked about how his feelings during the anniversary celebrations.

“Dave and I are very grateful,” adds Mathieu Côté, DbD game director and director of partnerships. “We try to remind each other how lucky we are to have been able to go on this crazy ride and still be there.”

This latest milestone is particularly notable for the pair because they’ve been with DBD since the very beginning. Back then, only about 35 people worked on the game, but now, it’s around 500. Like a lot of Canadian game success stories, DbD originated in no small part thanks to funding from the Canada Media Fund.

Behaviour Interactive were early innovators in Canada in audience engagement and live ops—continuously updating features, characters, or mechanics based on player feedback, all while building a brand that helped their
studio stand out,” says Janine Steele, CMF director of Interactive, Digital and Emerging Media. “In today’s crowded global marketplace, Behaviour’s direct relationship to a deeply connected fanbase has allowed the studio to transpose success in one game to success in others. It’s not just about building a great game, but also consider the other aspects of building a business for the long haul, such as marketing, audience relations, and business development.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Humble beginnings

During a media presentation at Behaviour’s Montreal headquarters, co-founder and CEO Rémi Racine reflected on just how much Dead by Daylight has surpassed the team’s wildest dreams. “We never expected it would be so big,” he said, noting that initial sales forecasts were in the 300,000 range. “We never thought we’d be here today. It was incredible. It changed the business. It changed Behaviour in a good way.”

When DbD launched, Behaviour staffed around 350 employees and was mostly known for work-for-hire projects for companies like Disney (Kim Possible), Sega (Iron Man), and THQ (Scooby-Doo), alongside a handful of original titles that mostly received mixed reviews, like the third-person action shooter Wet and action-adventure game Naughty Bear. But with the success of DBD, Behaviour now employs nearly 1,300 people across several studios, including one in Toronto and at subsidiaries like Vancouver-based Red Hook (Darkest Dungeon). It supports development on big titles like 2K’s Civilization VII and Xbox’s upcoming Gears of War: E-Day from fellow Canadian developer The Coalition. And it even helps publish the likes of Supermassive’s DbD spin-off The Casting of Frank Stone and WDR’s horror parkour game Terrible Lizards.

Rémi Racine talks to media at Behaviour’s Montreal office.

That measured trajectory is key, according to La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec, the non-profit cooperative that represents the province’s gaming sector.

“Behaviour’s longevity is rare in this industry, and at La Guilde, we think about it a lot because it speaks to something structural, not something that happened by pure luck. They built technical credibility through years of work-for-hire before making DbD. This gave them the financial runway and the production discipline to eventually take a risk on something original,” says Émilien Roscanu, La Guilde’s principal director of communications and operations.

“[Behaviour’s] independence has been crucial. When you own your IP and you’re not answering to a parent company with competing priorities, you can make long-term decisions, invest in community, greenlight a bold licensing strategy. That freedom is what allowed them to grow DBD into what it is today. It’s a model we hope more Quebec studios can follow and one that La Guilde actively works to support.”

It also helps that Behaviour has such a strong core concept for Dead by Daylight that stands out even a decade later. While many of today’s popular live service games are focused on variations of shooter combat, like Fortnite, Call of Duty and Counter-Strike, DbD focuses on a novel asymmetrical approach to survival horror. Instead of traditional squad-based matches, DbD challenges a team of four Survivors to work together to repair generators to escape, all while being hunted by a player-controlled Killer. That focus on vulnerability, strategy and teamwork provides a rich tension and palpable atmosphere, especially as many other horror games have leaned more towards action instead of scares over time.

“Through the years, and especially early on, it was important for us to be an accessible horror. We wanted to have a level of violence, a level of gore, that is accessible, so that you have the thrill of the horror, but you’re not necessarily disgusted, so that we can have as many people as possible interact with the game,” says Richard.

He adds that in recent years, horror in general has been going through something of a “Golden Age,” which has further encouraged Behaviour to explore different facets of the genre over time. “It’s the variety — the fact that we can look at almost any subject with a lens of horror, find the horrific story that makes us scared, but also empathize with the characters, create all of these emotions and attachment to the universe building, and keep an evolution on that style through time to please our fans,” he says.

Dead by Daylight emphasizes horror and tension as you’re chased by an unbeatable Killer. (Image credit: Behaviour Interactive)

It’s that very focus on the fans that has proven so integral to DbD‘s longevity.

“With games as a service, the backbone is the community, and so I think that our values as a team are to be transparent, acknowledge our mistakes, talk with the community, get their feedback, and collaborate with them to create the universe they want to play in,” says Richard. “So we started that very, very, very early. We knew it was going to be important to get these people on board as fast as possible.”

In fact, one of the main highlights of the DbD 10th anniversary broadcast was a rare early look at distant content, including a prototyped zombie mode and a swath of technical improvements to character models, animations and even weather effects. And over the past year, Behaviour has even been running the game’s first-ever fan-driven event, The Grimoire, which let the community vote to shape a new Killer and Survivor and concludes, as confirmed in the stream, in August. As Behaviour notes, it wants to have an open and transparent dialogue with fans, even, in some cases, when updates are over a year away.

“There was a lesson in humility early on — not that we needed it too much — about realizing that this is not ‘our game’ anymore. It’s still us making it, but if the players want to take it in a certain direction, we need to listen,” says Côté. “It doesn’t mean they’re always right — they are not — but it’s important to listen. ‘Why is it that some people are screaming about something?’ It might not be the thing, but it’s a symptom of something, and we have to try to pay attention.”

To that point, DbD actually garnered more of a mixed response when it launched in 2016 due to technical issues, improper balancing and a lack of social features. But Behaviour stuck with it, soliciting feedback as it continued to polish and add to the game, and now, the reception is much more positive. And since then, Richard credits an ever-bigger and more versatile Behaviour team for being able to continue to listen to fans and stay relevant, even in recent years as so many more games, social media platforms and streaming services are competing for people’s attention.

“We have very talented people here that we didn’t have very early on, so [we’re] able to have a dedicated team to talk with our community and to bring out of the noise of 70 million people the pertinent information that the team needs, so that we can cater to these people,” he says. “Having a dedicated team that is looking far forward in the future on what are the trends, what is coming, what is currently on TikTok, what will be on TikTok in a few weeks [helps us] foresee and adapt to it. And of course, [we have] the expertise of the team on learning what type of horror is going to be trendy or loved. All of these dedicated people are bringing a little something that will help us continue to be relevant.”

The Museum of Horror

Some of the many horror icons featured in Dead by Daylight. (Image credit: Behaviour Interactive)

A key part of DbD‘s enduring popularity also stems from the fact that Behaviour has continued to dramatically expand the game through numerous exciting and well-fitting crossovers. Indeed, so many iconic characters from various kinds of horror media have been featured in the game, including Michael Myers (Halloween), the Xenomorph (Alien), Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead) and Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil). Occasionally, Behaviour has even had some fun with more unorthodox guests, like The Witcher‘s Geralt, Tomb Raider‘s Lara Croft and, even, Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself.

“We’ve had some very important collaborations, and that was kind of a stamp of approval from different industries,” says Richard. “The very first licence we got — Michael Myers, of all people!” adds Côté.

For Richard, one of his fondest memories of working on DbD actually exemplifies how much the game has grown to stand alongside these licensed horror properties for many fans.

“There’s this woman that comes in and sees us [at a PAX event], and she’s a fan of the game. She’s happy to be there, and she’s like, ‘Look!’ And she shows her arm has a full sleeve tattoo of all the famous horror characters, like Myers, Jason [Voorhees], Freddy [Krueger], Leatherface… They’re all there [on this] beautiful tattoo, and straight in the middle she added the DbD logo,” he explains. “And she was super proud to show it. I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ That was a realization for me that the universe was getting complete, and in the minds of fans, when they think horror, they think Dead by Daylight. That was pretty grand.”

But of course, it’s easy to see how too much of a good thing could be a problem. With so many beloved characters already in DbD and fan-favourites like Friday the 13th‘s Jason Voorhees and Terrifier‘s Art the Clown still regularly being added, how do you ensure they each get the level of care and balancing expected from both fans and their respective IP holders?

“Whatever chapter we’re working on is the most important chapter we’ve ever done,” says Côté of Behaviour’s approach to constantly adding fan-favourite characters. “Whatever we’re working on right now is our favourite one, and it has to be. And it sort of educates the choices that we make with what collaborations we do, because if we’re not inspired, it’s not gonna work.”

“We put ourselves in the shoes of the fan of these franchises, or the type of horror and the type of fantasy we’re building. So as the team is building that content, it’s the best content,” adds Richard.

Jason Voorhees terrorizes Dave Richard and Mathieu Côté at the DBD anniversary panel.

Clearly, that effort is paying off, with 2025, in particular, being DbD‘s biggest year to date and overall game revenue increasing by 50 per cent over the past 12 months. In a time when so many live services don’t last this long, this kind of growth is truly remarkable, and La Guilde says other studios should take note.

“The Dead by Daylight story is one of the clearest examples of what happens when a studio commits to their vision and then builds a strong relationship with its community. Behaviour didn’t just ship a successful horror game, they built a living and breathing ecosystem,” says Roscanu. “One thing Behaviour understood very early is that Dead by Daylight didn’t need to be the biggest game in the world. It needed to become the home for horror fans. Once they earned that position, every new chapter reinforced the value of the platform. The collaborations with external IPs, from Michael Myers to Stranger Things, also show something important: when your world is compelling enough, others want to be part of it.”

Canadian values — for everyone

Clearly, by any metric, DbD‘s success would be noteworthy, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that it’s a wholly Canadian success story. While so many games are made in Canada, the big ones are typically owned by foreign entities, whether it’s Assassin’s Creed (France’s Ubisoft), Mass Effect (the U.S.’ EA) or Warframe (China’s Tencent). But even after 30-plus years, Behaviour has remained Canada’s largest independent game maker.

“Behaviour is one of the rare ones that says, ‘Yeah, no, we’re from here.’ Essentially, all the others are American or their headquarters are elsewhere, but not us,” says Côté. “It’s just so great to be able to stand side by side with these giants out there, and go, ‘Yeah, we deserve to be standing next to you right now.’ It’s amazing.”

“Even locally, we have friends from other studios that this week started to send us photos because we’re everywhere this summer — billboards, murals — and it’s so cool to see. They feel proud,” says Richard.

“The success of Behaviour demonstrates that Quebec is no longer simply a place where international companies build games. It’s also a place where original franchises can be created, owned and exported to the world,” says Roscanu. “What makes Quebec particularly strong is that every stage of the value chain exists here. A game can be imagined, financed, developed, marketed and scaled globally without leaving the province. Behaviour is one of the most visible examples of that model, but it’s increasingly reflected across the industry as more Quebec studios build and grow their own IP.”

“Large multinational studios operating in Canada are vital to the industry, but it can also mean that decisions affecting our Canadian talent are made outside of our ecosystem. We unfortunately see the consequences of that in recent
downturns of job opportunities across the industry at a global scale,” says Steele. (Editor’s note: Behaviour itself recently laid off an undisclosed number of employees, among tens of thousands of other industry job cuts over the past few years.) “Behaviour demonstrates that when you choose to maintain ownership and control of your own intellectual property, strength and stability can follow, and Canadian stories will compete globally. Supporting that opportunity is critical to the Canada Media Fund’s mission and mandate.”

But it’s not just getting to recently showcase Montreal that’s been special for Behaviour; Richard and Côté say it’s also long been important to be able to have their Canadian identity reflected in the game itself. “It’s one of our core pillars for the project, for the brand, to be able to unapologetically put our values, our Canadian values, Quebecois values, what we think is important: representation and inclusivity,” says Richard.

A perfect example of that came during the 10th anniversary broadcast when Behaviour unveiled DbD‘s first-ever Indigenous character: Shane Wiigwaas. Played by Reservation Dogs‘ Dallas Goldtooth, Shane is an Anishinaabe lawyer who travels across the country on a bike to help out other First Nations communities. He arrives in DbD on June 25.

“As our fanbase has seen, it’s important for us that every time we go into a culture that we don’t fully grasp, we ask for help. We have community consultants who come in and help us make it right, and in this case, it’s an interesting story where we knew we were going to do our first First Nations character, and we wanted him to be from Canadian community, and we found a consultant that helped us, from only that basic understanding of who the character is, to build the whole character and really be true to that specific community.”

Shane Wiigwaas. (Image credit: Behaviour Interactive)

All in all, DbD‘s character roster is commendably diverse, and Behaviour says it was important to achieve that.

“We’ve learned — at least I learned quite a lot — [about] opening my mind to how people perceive themselves and how they see themselves represented. And we’ve been doing that […] because it’s so important,” Côté says. “We’ve screwed up a couple times along the way, which is inevitable if you’re going to try things, but we listen, and then we own up [to it].”

And in other instances, Côté says that Behaviour gets to hear firsthand about what this representation means to players. He specifically cites an interaction he had with a female fan about the Survivor Zarina Kassir, a Lebanese journalist.

“She was telling me that, the character is a journalist from Lebanon and that story is very close to her heart. But the one thing she said is, ‘Do you know that this is the first time there’s a Lebanese character in a video game that’s not a bad guy?’ That really hit me hard. She’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen myself many times in games, and then people kill me all the time, because we’re bad guys, because we’re terrorists,’” he says. “For us, it’s just another one of our 57 Survivors, and every time we do one, we strive to make a character that has a story and a background that feels unique. And this time, we just made one that felt exceedingly important and precise to a person. We didn’t decide to do that, specifically, but it was very meaningful, and that’s going to stay with me forever.”

Côté says he’s proud that DbD is able to push back against the “very easy” route that media often takes to feature the same kinds of characters and stories. A game with some of the most vicious killers and monsters in all of media can also have some of the most relatable and human characters for people to see themselves in.

“You might do it wrong, you might be screamed at for tokenization, or for whatever else, but it’s important,” he says. “We’ve had the absolute honour of being sent around the world, and we got those testimonies firsthand. People going, ‘You put someone in the game that comes from the small town that I’m in, and this means a lot to me. You put somebody into the game, and some part of their life story is relevant to me, and it’s important.’ And that’s just fucking beautiful.”

Dead by Daylight is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.