The developers of Dead by Daylight announced on Wednesday that David King, a character introduced to the game in 2017, is gay. Reactions ranged from happy to outraged, and a Reddit thread discussing the decision was eventually locked.
“Homophobia will not be tolerated if you see anyone, please report it,” wrote one courage in the thread. “This post is locked because it got out of hand, but please check our mega thread for the full update if you would like to discuss anything about the update (including this one).”
Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer horror game in which a team of survivors try to outwit a killer either inspired by or directly drawn from slasher movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween. It does not require much background history to function, but in 2019, developer Behavior Interactive added The Archives, which expanded the game’s story with Tomes, which includes audio stories and animations. The latest Tome, Devotion, features a new David King story that “explores a deep personal connection” and is now unfolding – excerpts from the stories are released over time.
Other characters’ romantic preferences have been alluded to in former Tomes – a character’s wife is mentioned, for example – but no one was made explicit, and until this new David King story one could have understood that Dead by Daylight’s 30 survivors are all equal. . In fact, a former boyfriend is mentioned in the previous story of David King. (“His ex has moved on and she does not want to see his face.”)
“The fact that our rating list did not openly contain any confirmed LGBTQIA2 + representation was something we have been determined to change,” Behavior Interactive said in its blog post (here is an LGBTQIA2 + definition). “After extensive consultations with the GaymerX organization, who shared their expertise in integrating LGBTQIA2 + themes into established games, we felt confident in our chosen direction.”
Many fans responded positively to the announcement and applauded for the increased representation. Some players noted that by adding the background story of an existing character instead of introducing a DLC character, Behavior chose not to use the moment as an opportunity to sell inclusion. David King is one of Dead by Daylight’s most popular characters to play – he occupies a “comfortable top ten position,” says Behavior – and players will likely continue to choose him for the same reasons they always did. .
David King is among the central characters in our brand new Tome, but he is also a first step towards more representation in Dead by Daylight. Learn more: https://t.co/tTSozggnWj pic.twitter.com/zieDbEAaa8April 27, 2022
Other fans thought the message was sticky, foreboding or did not go far enough. Some would have preferred that a new character had been introduced, arguing that it is not impossible to believe that David King was chosen at random as a token gay character, given his existing background story.
“He’s literally a stereotypical British chav who would probably brag about his success with women in pubs. As if I’m gay, and I’m not saying gay men can not be hypermasculine combat addicts, but it just feels so out of place.” said a player. “Corny panders honestly.”
A number of negative or confused reactions also came from people who were not aware that the announcement coincided with a new David King story – or were not aware that Dead by Daylight even contained background stories, like me about an hour ago – and therefore thought that the developer consulted with GaymerX just to write a blog post stating that a character is gay. That would actually be weird, but it’s not the case. The developer announced that the new David King story will establish that he identifies as gay, not just that he is gay.
The rest of the negative reaction comes largely from people and experts who reject not just the idea of representation, but the identities represented themselves, and took the message as a signal of outraged soapboxing.
By using the code PRIDE2022 in the shop in the game, you now unlock our new updated charm together with the old one. Wear it with pride. 🌈 pic.twitter.com/7Z44vOtEs9April 27, 2022
Some of the posts in the now-closed thread about The Dead by Daylight subreddit fit this description, though much of the player criticism is more in the direction of the “corny pandering” comment. Festive posts (“Like someone who’s been David’s main character for years, it makes me feel pure bliss”) and counterpoints are also spread across the Reddit thread. One player said they think others are primarily uncomfortable by accepting that an established character is not who they assumed he was.
“I’m a gay guy, I’ve had four girlfriends,” the player said. “[David King’s] Tome lore is likely to be an upcoming story, something I can relate to, and something I’m sure many other gay men would feel represented by. My point is that it is hard to call this tokenism because this happens in real life for almost any gay person. We do not jump out of the womb and make everyone understand that we are gay. Homosexuals do not even come out just once. I have to let people find out I’m gay on my own or tell them myself every time I change jobs or meet new friends, and it’s always nerve-wracking when I anticipate their reaction to confirming my orientation. For that reason, I really hate this “yes, he was not gay before, so I do not like him now” argument, because it happens to us in real life. ”
On the game’s official forums, Dead by Daylight community manager Peanits elaborated on some of the decisions. As for David King’s past, “people often learn things about themselves as time goes on,” they said. And regarding suggestions that a new character would have been better, Peanits said putting the game’s first gay character behind a DLC paywall could have been considered “promoting pride for a profit,” as some players also suggested. They also noted that new characters typically do not come with much background history, so establishing their sexuality right away can overemphasize it. David King is already a fulfilled character, and therefore his sexuality will be a part of him, but not everything there is to know about him, according to Peanits.
As for the future, with the ice broken, “it will be much easier to approach these issues in advance and / or in more subtle ways,” they said.
Devotion is Dead by Daylight’s 11th Tome, and released Thursday. Aside from David King’s story, it also contains a tale of The Twins, a pair of twin 17th-century twins (in case you forgot which game we were talking about). There is also an updated pride charm in the game, which can be acquired for free in the game store with the code “PRIDE2022.”