Put down your machete and wipe your tears, horror fans - Jason Voorhees is officially joining Dead by Daylight as a playable Killer. Behaviour Interactive dropped the bombshell during their 10th anniversary livestream, confirming that the hockey-masked legend from Friday the 13th is coming to the Fog, according to Polygon.
This is genuinely one of the most requested characters in DbD history, and for good reason - Jason is basically the grandfather of the whole "big scary person chases helpless people" genre that Dead by Daylight has been running with for a decade. The fact that it took ten whole years to make this happen is either a masterclass in delayed gratification or the slowest fast travel in gaming history.
Why did it take so long?
For the uninitiated, Jason's licensing situation has been an absolute boss fight of its own. The rights to the Friday the 13th franchise have been tangled up in legal disputes for years, which is precisely why the dedicated Friday the 13th: The Game - you know, the one that literally IS a Jason game - had to shut down its content updates and eventually go offline. Real life legal battles hit different when they nuke your entire game.
Behaviour Interactive clearly managed to finally cut through that red tape like Jason through a cabin wall, and frankly we're here for it. DbD's 10th anniversary was always going to be a big deal, but dropping Jason as the announcement is an absolute critical hit move.
The lobbies are about to get very sweaty
Jason joining the roster means the survivor mains are already in full panic mode, and honestly? Good. Dead by Daylight's lineup already reads like a greatest hits album of horror cinema, featuring everyone from Michael Myers to Pinhead to the Xenomorph. Adding Jason completes what many fans consider the holy trinity of slasher icons finally being in the same game.
No specific release date has been confirmed yet beyond the anniversary announcement, so survivors have at least a little time to mentally prepare before they're being yeeted through a window by Camp Crystal Lake's most infamous counselor-killer. Start grinding those Bloodpoints now - you're going to want a good build ready when he drops.
