Behaviour is experimenting with 2v8 Dead by Daylight game mode

With revamped maps and a fresh outlook

Behaviour Interactive

Behaviour is making a new 2v8 Dead by Daylight game mode, the studio announced during the horror game’s anniversary livestream, and the new mode does a lot more than just add more characters. Dead by Daylight’s 2v8 mode will launch sometime in summer 2024 as a fully-fleshed mode – not just a limited event – though Behaviour’s design director Matt Spriggens said it’s best to think of it as a temporary addition for now.

Spriggens didn’t say how long 2v8 mode would stick around or confirm that the additions would be permanent, but the team is putting a lot into it.

First up, the basics. 2v8 translates to two killers and eight survivors, and that also means Behaviour had to tweak DbD’s balance to make this change work. Survivors have classes and roles instead of perks, and you get a brief rundown of what your role is in a match after you pick your class. Claudette, for example, could focus on healing, while another character handles objectives for the team.

Spriggens said they hope survivor classes will encourage different kinds of strategy in the multiplayer game, where players have to work together more effectively than usual.

The same goes for killers, who get special team powers to help them work together. Spriggens used Wraith as an example and said that when Wraith uses their cloaking skill near their co-killer, both characters get the undetectable status

All survivors are playable in Dead by Daylight’s 2v8 mode, though only five killers will show up in 2v8’s first iteration: 

• Wraith
• Trapper
• Nurse
• Huntress
• Hillbilly

One map from each of the killer’s worlds will be playable at launch, and Behaviour plans to add more maps and characters in the future, including, possibly, the Dungeons and Dragons map. Five might not sound like much, but the team is giving included maps a pretty big revamp. They’re bigger, of course, and most notably, they don’t have hooks.

Spriggens said the team wants to streamline matches, so the hook is gone. Captured survivors will find themselves in cages instead, where allies can still rescue them, and the three-strike rule still applies. 

Expect more Dead by Daylight 2v8 news in the coming weeks as Behaviour gears up for the mode’s launch.