Future of Dead by Daylight Forums

Mandy · September 21

Hello everybody,

As you’re all aware, we are currently in our 10th year of operating Dead by Daylight as a live game. While the dev team is looking at numerous ways to update, improve, and modernize the game to carry us through the next 10 years, we are doing this on the community side of things as well.

When looking at the spread of official channels and platforms (Official Forums, Discord, Reddit, Steam Discussions, social media) where we engage with and listen to our players, we have seen big shifts over this last decade in where our players are spending their time. While most of these platforms and channels have been booming, user activity and engagement on our Official Forums has been steadily and substantially declining year over year. This matches general trends seen across the industry regarding where gaming communities are spending their time these days.

Reflecting upon this dynamic, we believe the time has come to shift where we are focusing the community team’s efforts for the exciting future ahead. As such, we’ve made the decision to close the Official Forums at the end of October 2026 and transition to supporting you, the Community, on the other platforms namely the official Discord server, Steam Discussions and the r/DeadbyDaylight subreddit.

Discord, in particular, will become more and more central to our community work in the months ahead. With tens of millions of DBD players already present on the platform, coupled with the plethora of fantastic tools available to enhance how we collaborate with our community there makes it the clear choice of where we need to centralize our efforts.

Over the coming weeks you will receive an email to the account used to register on this forum to invite you to join the Dead by Daylight Discord and receive a special role in that Server highlighting you as a forum member. There will also be a dedicated channel in the Discord structured for the long form, threaded content you are renowned for and accustomed to, so that you can continue your discussions.

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank you for your support and the passion you have brought to these forums all these years. You have been a foundational, core element of this community and we do not take this change lightly. We know many of you have built bonds and connections with each other, and even directly with our team, because of this platform and we’ll always honour that.

We look forward to continuing our journey together with you on the official Discord server and seeing you remain a vital part of our community. Thanks again.

The Dead by Daylight Team

ForTheEntity · September 21

Too cheap to maintain even a cheap forum. That's BHVR.

100PercentBPMain · September 21

the forums died the same year Pulsar did.

I ain't joining no discord, unfortunately. I suppose it's truly the end of an era.

Wyndsor · September 21

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/comment/4119496#Comment_4119496

Much easier to give non-responses and cherry pick feedback in closed/restricted channels.

OnryosTapeRentals · September 21

What will happen to the information center here on the forums where all of the Patch Notes are? It's very convenient to have all of the patch notes for both PTB and live in one place in a nice ordered list. Will this be moved to the Discord?

dangersmymidd1ename · September 21

Discord is no replacement for the forum structure. Also depending entirely on 3rd party proprietary systems is not good for business nor for users' privacy.

GoodBoyKaru · September 21

the end of an era. RIP to the dbd forums and this 8 year old account lol

anyone feel like trying to beat my post count record before shutdown?

HoodedWildKard · September 21

Well that absolutely sucks

GentlemanFridge · September 21

Can't say I'm surprised, I won't lie.

But still

It's so crowver.

GeneralV · September 21

Devastating news.

MechWarrior3 · September 21

Sigh….

cogsturning · September 21

Steam is mostly just a certain subset of players and not everyone wants to be on Reddit or Discord. The forum is nice in that it isn't part of a larger machine but is it's own thing. Sad times.

radiantHero23 · September 21

This hurts.

As others already said, its the end of an era.
I enjoyed my time here and met a lot of good friends.

I will miss this place and its people a lot. I will also not move to steam discussions or reddit. Im pretty sure, that discussing dbd with people there is even less productive than it is here.

What a shame.

T🐽T

ArkInk · September 21

Welp, we had a good run guys. BHVR banned half its forum regulars, and now doesn't consider the forums big enough to support.

As a user whose been here since I believe Singularity, and was lurking long before that point, this is both entirely unsurprising and an awful confirmation that all of our time here has been undervalued and overlooked.

Angy_Quentin · September 21

Man...

Anniehere · September 21

I'm not trying to be cynical. There are a few people here whose posts I've enjoyed reading, and some really nice people I'd like to get to know better. It's such a shame.

sizzlingmario4 · September 21

Well that's disappointing. When October rolls around that'll be exactly 5 years since I joined the forum. End of an era for sure and I'll miss some of the conversations here.

MDRSan · September 21

Can't have valid feedback and criticism being indexable by Google - need to hide it all behind some Discord server that was never designed for that format in the first place. Reddit is hilarious - good luck moderating that without a company controlled banhammer.

Seriously, is it that hard as a company to just run your own forums? I mean, where are all the boosted killers going to go to whine about survivors despite low escape rates now? Oh wait, there's already a subreddit for that. Nevermind.

Skittlesthehusky · September 21

i appreciate you all, lots of really interesting discussions have been had over the years

since the official forums are going, im announcing ive been quietly working on a community-led and curated unofficial version of them for those who still want to have long-form discussions or can't use the main platforms. (not endorsed by BHVR, im just doing it for the people and the love of DBD)

its old-school, but this is specifically targeting the group of those who want to engage in long-form and thorough discussions, or are passionate about DBD like me.

if anyone wants to register or contribute, ill be happy to give people a place to go if anyone wants to join this group. just shoot me a message on any of the official platforms or discord o7 same user everywhere

long live the OG forums!

edit: including the link because i dont think it matters at this point: https://fog-dwellers.com/ (again, not affiliated)

Your_Dad_Playing_DbD · September 21

Well, bye everyone, I guess. This might as well be my last post here as I’m sure this place is going to empty out pretty quickly.

NeverSolus · September 21

I can't tell if this is another BHVR 'joke' or not. I'm baffled. This is such a bizarre business choice, but plant the crop you want to harvest I guess.

SkeletonDance · September 21

Well, that really sucks. One of the reasons why I liked official forums is because it was a great alternative to reddit and discord + patch notes or annoucements were easier to read here

Now we're gonna have a fewer choices.

hermitkermit · September 21

Really disappointing..

Xaerdy · September 21

Well it's your decision, but I can hardly see myself on the discord channel because that is not a forum replacement, it would never work like this place. Reddit could work as such, but it is a hellhole where dissenting opinions are surpressed by the system itself. Steam by it's nature only targets part of the players.

So, bye then. I guess.

Shroompy · September 21

Well damn ain't that something

Marc_123 · September 21

Uff… thats really sad.

I don´t know if i will join the other platforms.

I liked this forum.

I think i am getting old, i don´t like how certain things change in these times :-(

THE_Crazy_Hyena · September 21

This really blows. I may not have been around for that long, but I have met some truly AMAZING people on here, that I have since then spent countless hours playing both DBD and other games with, and just spent some very nice time with.

Thanks to this forum, we have gathered a large group of people from around the world.. quite literally, who share the same love and passion for DBD as I (and probably many others) do.

It is sad to come to know that the OG forums are being shut down, but we do have alternatives.

I will greatly miss this place though 🥺

Sincerely: THE_Crazy_Hyena

MorelClaudette · September 21

Sad news.

Xray · September 21

So i guess thats it then. No reason for me to hop back on here after this announcement so this will be my last comment. Even though i have been on this forum for only a little over a year, its been a hell of a ride with ups and downs and meet some friends to play with finally after three years of soloq. I wont be joining the discord server so this will be the last time you will hear from me in a space like this. Unless you see me out in the fog. Number one Bill fan out…. Peace.

Linkdouken · September 21

Boo!

Mooks · September 21

yeah. Well.

Kinda sad, but mostly for nostalgia reasons at this point.
This is not surprising news at all as the forums felt neglected for quite some time now and with the very strict rule and escalation system, many reasonable community members have been missing and made the place feel even more desolate.

i used to like this format more than discord or Social media because it felt more structured and direct, but as already said, this is already being missed so i guess with shutting down we can at least find a better way to let go.

i guess at least there is some time to reach out here via PN to stay in touch

Science_Guy · September 21

What a shame.

I'm here precisely because I want to be. I'm not on Reddit or Discord because I don't want to be. This place isn't perfect, but I'll always prefer a good old fashioned forum to anywhere else.

CrypticGirl · September 21

I can't say I'm surprised either. These forums have been declining for some time now, and there's just no reason to keep up something that's declining.

That said, I will miss the discussions here. I can't imagine Discord, Reddit, or any of those other platforms being anything other than a complete mess either, so good luck with those. I certainly won't be joining those.

Brokenbones · September 21

Well that's disheartening. Always thought this place was pretty cool.

Oh well.

oxygen · September 21

Sucks, in a way I'm almost surprised something as "old-fashioned" nowadays as forum was kept up for this long I guess. Can't really see myself transition to Discord, Reddit or the trolls-trolling-trolls thunderdome that is the steam forums, so thanks for not pulling the plug years ago already I guess I've enjoyed posting here.

chipsbone · September 21

And in a month or two, they'll close up the bug report tracker too. No negative feedback or bug reports if you can't post 'em.

Rock_KBob · September 21

:(

I don't even know what to say. I get the decision from a business standpoint, but this is where I first found my footing in the DBD community, so I'd be lying to say this doesn't feel like being disconnected from it all over again. I enjoyed the longer form discussions versus the short, often aggressive banter in these other named social alternatives. Not to say we couldn't get ruffled feathers here too, but at least it rarely ever got personal. I can't say I've seen that very often elsewhere, which was a huge reason I finally decided to start speaking here at all after a year of lurking and checking out the vibes.

That said, I am already in the discord, just never talked because of how fast all the chats moved. Felt like trying to talk to a group of your friends who were busy having their own conversation. I hope that feeling changes somehow.

Thanks to everyone here for making me feel welcome and giving me something to engage with on slow work days. This truly will be missed. ❤️

Unknown · September 21

This content has been removed.

rmattamer · September 21

I newly joined here, don't have a discord account nor ise reddit.. eh ok its already hard for console players.

DodoSwarm · September 21

woah lol… a game as big as DBD deleting its forums? i'm not joining discord or reddit for DBD… Forums like these for games are the only places people have a real ability to talk about the game in open conversation, Reddit is abhorrent and Discord is absolutely NOT made for discussions like the discussions this forum provides.

Another nail in the coffin for me, I planned to hang around here and keep an eye on the game, hoping it would move back in a better direction, now i'm just gonna uninstall it.

radiantHero23 · September 21

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/comment/4119518#Comment_4119518

Edit.: You say "steady decline".
Well… You kind of banned most of the most loyal members in one go, so yeah… No wonder the numbers are in decline…

Firellius · September 21

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/472588/future-of-dead-by-daylight-forums

As you’re all aware, we are currently in our 10th year of operating Dead by Daylight as a live game. While the dev team is looking at numerous ways to update, improve, and modernize the game to carry us through the next 10 years, we are doing this on the community side of things as well.

Improving the community side in much the same way you 'improved' anti-tunnel, I see.

I do like that this thread is filled with lament, even though on any other day, there'd be squabbles. The forums are a pit of misery, but dammit, they're OUR pit of misery.

NeverSolus · September 21

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/comment/4119584#Comment_4119584

Unknown · September 21

This content has been removed.

Mandy · September 21

I completely understand a lot of the sentiment here, I've been on these forums since before they opened and I have a lot of some very fond memories here - its been a wild ride with you all in some cases and I personally am very sad to be saying goodbye.

DodoSwarm · September 21

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/comment/4119601#Comment_4119601

as long as it's relayed to the person / people who made this decision that the "sentiment" is not just that "we will miss the forums" so much as we all entirely understand and know how detached discord and reddit are from the real idea of a forum and it's another brick on the road you guys are paving towards seemingly disregarding the input and opinions from the entire playerbase on both sides. that's okay, message recieved.