Dead By Daylight invites the bogeyman to its sixth birthday party

Dead By Daylight devs Behaviour Interactive have confirmed that there will be a new killer, survivor and map coming with the launch of the game’s next chapter, ‘Roots Of Dread’, on June 7th. Unveiled as part of today's sixth anniversary stream, the developers say they were inspired by the infamous urban legend of the bogeyman to create new killer 'The Dredge', which is an amorphous blob creature with a gaping maw and limbs at odd angles. See it in action in the trailer below.

The Dredge will hunt survivors down using two new abilities: teleportation called ‘gloaming’ between the usually safe lockers on maps, and an enveloping darkness termed ‘nightfall’. One of the people The Dredge will be pursuing will be sort-of-but-not-quite-new survivor Haddie Kaur, who has already cropped up in multiple instalments of Dead By Daylight's Archives mode. In case you need reminding, she's a psychic born in India but raised in Canada who runs a web-series investigating supernatural mysteries called 'Harbinger Of Hell', which I'd imagine The Dredge isn't all that pleased about.

There’ll also be a new map coming with the start of Chapter 24 on June 7th, dubbed the ‘Garden Of Joy’. The devs insist this is a “domestic horror” environment, a typical American house that looks fine on the outside but is twisted when you enter. It’s created out of memories from different characters, so the devs say other stories and buildings on the map will pop up in the future. Speaking of spooky houses, the stream also revealed that another Resident Evil tie-in is coming as well, codenamed 'Project W'. Looking at you there, Wesker.

Behaviour Interactive confirmed that there will be a Dead By Daylight dating simulator out in summer, too, exclusively on Steam. Hooked On You: A Dead By Daylight Dating Sim is a visual novel from I Love You, Colonel Sanders! devs Psyop. It stars four of the main game’s killers: Trapper, Huntress, Wraith and Spirit. Dead By Daylight's game director Mathieu Côté said that each killer will “bring a very different side of their personality” to the dating sim and, while they’re the same killers players are familiar with, they’ll be “a lot more playful”.

Earlier today, it was also revealed that Behaviour Interactive have acquired Midwinter Entertainment – the devs behind squad-based battle royale Scavengers – from former owner Improbable. Behaviour and Midwinter confirmed the sale to Eurogamer, stating that while a small team are currently keeping the floundering game operational, the rest of the studio has been moved onto a new project. What the future holds for Scavengers remains to be seen.