Ever since Dead by Daylight released in 2016, fans have clamored for one iconic horror movie killer in particular to be added to the game: Jason Voorhees. A quick Google search for “Jason DBD” will come up with hundreds of rumors that Jason is finally coming to Dead by Daylight.
Unfortunately, it’s been impossible for Jason to enter the Entity’s realm, as the director and screenwriter of the original film have been entangled in a multi-year-long court battle over who owns the rights to the original screenplay. The lawsuit ended in 2021 with the writer, Victor Miller, gaining ownership over the first movie, and director Sean S Cunningham retaining the movie’s international rights, and ownership of the rest of the franchise (i.e. any movies following the original).
During the dispute, neither party could approve new licensing deals. This famously led to the immensely popular Friday the 13th: The Game ceasing updates, as they couldn’t add new characters or maps without approval from the license holders.
However, this week’s news shifts the likelihood of the iconic villain joining the ranks of Michael Myers and Leatherface in the fog from “impossible” to “plausible”.
So what happened? This week, IGN reported that Horror, Inc has teamed up with Miller, and are planning a “multi-platform expansion” into “entertainment, games, immersive experiences, merchandise and more” for Jason Voorhees.
They’ve launched a new website, titled Jason Universe, which proudly displays the killer’s iconic hockey mask, and proclaims “a new era from the original owners of the Friday the 13th franchise”.
After Miller won the rights to the original movie, there were questions over whether this included the iconic Jason Voorhees and his likeness; in the original 1980 release, Jason only appears as a child, as his mother – Pamela Voorhees – was actually the killer.
However, the new branding for Jason Universe indicates that they do hold the rights to the character and his iconic mask.
IGN’s report mentioned that there will be news surrounding this multi-media expansion throughout the year. We already know one of the plans for the franchise: renowned film company A24 is working on a prequel TV show, titled Crystal Lake.
But with this announcement explicitly specifying “video games”, I don’t see it being too far-fetched they would contact Behaviour, the developers of Dead by Daylight, to add Jason to the game. For Horror, Inc, it’s easy money – there’s no doubt that a Friday the 13th chapter in DBD would sell insanely well.
I think the main roadblock is actually related to Friday the 13th: The Game. Last month, Horror, Inc. issued a cease and desist for an upcoming fan mod for the game, “Resurrected”. Although it’s not out of the question for studios to take down copyrighted material for dormant or abandoned properties – just look at Nintendo – it perhaps signifies that they will be carrying out a resurrection of the game themselves. The composer for the original game, Harry Manfredini mentioned to Rely on Horror last year that he was working on a Friday the 13th new game, in a different style to the original.
If this is the case, perhaps they would be hesitant to green-light Dead by Daylight’s version of the character, as it would act as direct competition.
As has been the case for all rumors regarding Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight, it’s going to be a waiting game to see if they’re ever true. For now, all we can do is hope and enjoy the game as it is. Speaking of, they recently just added Dungeons and Dragons to Dead by Daylight.