Today’s Dead by Daylight Fourth Anniversary stream was nothing short of fantastic thanks to the reveal of an iconic horror license in Chapter 16 featuring the Silent Hill series, and exciting news for what lies ahead in the fifth-year roadmap. For a look at the killer, Pyramid Head, and an interview with the developers, readers can click here.

Updated Matchmaking

A major announcement that caused a stir in the community was the incoming revamp to ranked mode and matchmaking in general. It was revealed during the stream that a system has been working on the back end of matchmaking, not actually affecting matches played, but capturing essential data that Behavior Interactive will use to roll out a new algorithm.

As ranks resets on a monthly basis, and players do not always have the time to climb up, using rank as the only indicator of matchmaking is an imperfect expectation that can lead to long queue times and imbalanced matches. This writer is a perfect example, who will reach rank 1-5 as survivor, become busy, and then two months later find himself at rank 13 following rank resets. Those first 20 or so games are a breeze to climb back in rank, but let’s be honest, they are not much of a challenge or fair to the other players.

With this new system, gone will be the expectation to be placed with players of similar rank, and instead players should see themselves more accurately matched with players of similar skill once the system is formally integrated into Dead by Daylight.

Crossplay Coming This Year

As an online-only 4v1 PvP experience, Dead by Daylight lives and dies by its player base of killers and survivors to keep queue times short and matchmaking fair. Countless games in the past have been forgotten due to this problem, and therefore crossplay is essential to maximizing the number of people that can play together.

The good news is that the player base is currently going strong, and there are no signs of slowing. According to the developers, crossplay will be implemented in two waves, first between Steam and the Windows Store, and then with PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch.

On a related and positive note, the developers also stated that they understood the importance players place on cross progression and are looking into that as well.

A Shiny New Coat Of Paint In An Upcoming Graphical Update

Although Dead by Daylight is a fantastic game, it is fair to say that the graphics look a bit dated, which is only logical after four years of success. With that in mind, there is a major graphical upgrade in the works and planned to release in 2021, “we want to make sure Dead by Daylight stands proudly next to all the next-gen games that will come next year." Below is a brief glimpse at current environments and current work in progress for the updated look.

Dead by Daylight Mobile

The developers spoke about the recent success of Dead by Daylight Mobile in its launch and took some time to discuss key differences between it and the version played on PC and consoles. It should surprise no one to learn that creating such a great looking version of the game with so little compromise on a mobile platform was difficult, but the team and players seem more than happy with the results so far.

While both versions of the game are similar, Dead by Daylight Mobile is handled by a separate team and will have its own roadmap, featuring a new map in June, quality of life updates in July, and a new killer in August.

Prolonging Games And Gen Rush

One of the most interesting parts of the stream also offered the fewest details. For the unfamiliar, Gen Rushing is a term that has a few different meanings depending on who’s using it. In general, it refers to survivors who rush and can complete generators in the shortest amount of time, often leaving the killer with few hits, downs, or kills.

As certain maps are large and space out generators, some low-mobility killers can experience matches where they have barely had time to patrol and they begin hearing completed objectives all around them. While killers should be applying pressure, it is not always possible. To counter this, the developers described implementing a mechanic that is like the Endgame Collapse, but for the early game with the goal of slowing down progress.

What this might look like now and what it might ultimately be implemented as in game may be completely different, but we are optimistic that it will be a positive change for the game. It is not going to be an easy task, because while gen rushing can occur from time to time, there are also games where killers wipe the floor with the survivors before a signal generator is complete!

There are several other details that were revealed in the stream, and the best thing to do is watch the video above to learn everything that is coming to Dead by Daylight!

Source: Dead by Daylight Fourth Anniversary Stream

NEXT: Arnold Schwarzenegger Arrives In Predator: Hunting Grounds