Dead by Daylight’s New Character Trial System Explained

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 15, 2025 29 Views 6 Min Read
Dead by Daylight's New Character Trial System Explained



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Asymmetrical horror game Dead by Daylight is currently testing out Patch 8.5 prior to its release in the main game. This exciting patch brings a near-complete rework for killer Freddy Krueger, aka The Nightmare, and the introduction of the Character Trial System. Possibly inspired by a similar feature in Dead By Daylight‘s mobile version, the Character Trial System will allow players to temporarily try out paid characters and survivors for a limited time. This may encourage players to purchase paid DLC characters after getting a chance to try out how they work.

Dead By Daylight Easiest Killers Feature Image

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Who Are Dead By Daylight’s Paid DLC Characters?

Throughout its lifespan, Dead By Daylight has released a number of free and paid DLC packs, typically referred to as Chapters. These packs include killers, survivors, cosmetic items such as skins, and more. As of January 2025, the following killers and survivors are only available in Dead by Daylight as paid DLC:

  • All Dead by Daylight officially licensed collaborations featuring both a killer and a survivor. These include Halloween, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Saw, Stranger Things, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, The Ring, Alien, Dungeons and Dragons, and Castlevania.
  • Some of Dead by Daylight’s previous original DLC characters have been bundled into packs – the Macabre Tales, Old Wounds, and Maddening Darkness packs. Whether these characters are included or must be purchased separately may depend on the version of the game.
  • Stand-alone DLC Killers: The Ghost Face, The Cenobite (Pinhead), The Good Guy (Chucky), The Cannibal (Leatherface)
  • Stand-alone DLC Survivors: Ash Williams, Nicolas Cage, Alan Wake, Lara Croft

Character Trials Will Let Players Briefly Experience These Characters For Free

During Character Trials, players will be able to try out these killers and survivors for a limited time. This allows players to experience how these killers and survivors play, try out different perks and builds, and then decide whether or not they wish to purchase them. How long each trial period will be, and how often they will occur, has not yet been revealed.

However, a similar feature did appear in Dead by Daylight Mobile, where players could sometimes try out characters they had unlocked for a period of 24 hours. Ideally, Dead by Daylight’s character trials will be longer than 24 hours, as such a short period could cause the game’s servers to become overcrowded and not give every interested player a chance to try out these characters.

Which Characters Will Feature In Trials First?

The public test build featuring the new system indicates that The Nightmare – aka Freddy Krueger – and his associated survivor Quentin Smith will be the first DLC characters players get to try out. This makes sense, as Krueger’s play style will be receiving a major overhaul. But which characters could be next up for a free trial?

In general, it will likely be easier for the original Dead by Daylight killers and survivors to feature in free trials, as there are no potential rights or licensing issues. Recently released DLC characters, like The Unknown and The Houndmaster, would make sense as they are relatively new to the game and Behaviour Interactive might want to increase the hype for them.

Rumors indicate that the next appearance of Dead by Daylight’s 2v8 mode will be Resident Evil-themed, meaning that those characters, including the killers Albert Wesker and the Nemesis, could be due for a free trial soon. Another option could be The Lich, aka Vecna, as Dungeons and Dragons is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025. Finally, upcoming DLC characters, such as the long-awaited Five Nights at Freddy’s character, could have free trials shortly after their release to encourage players to purchase them as soon as possible.

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