Following an ill-conceived developer statement regarding accessibility in Dead by Daylight, the team at Behaviour Interactive has confirmed that a colorblind mode is now a top priority. Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical horror game where four survivors team up against a supernatural terror. Whether that be Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street or a set of conjoined twins that can separate to cover more ground, the killer's goal is always to track down the survivors and sacrifice them to appease a malevolent spirit in charge of everything. One way the killers do this is by spotting blood-red markings that only they can see, although some colorblind players say that they can't see the markings even when they're supposed to.
Dead by Daylight is one of the more unlikely multiplayer success stories, stemming from the largely unsuccessful push several years ago towards asymmetrical multiplayer, which also included Turtle Rock Studios' Evolve and Microsoft's canceled Fable: Legends. Despite that, it has seen continued player growth over the years thanks to a steady stream of new characters both licensed and original as well as improvements on the simple but fun gameplay loop. Like many games of its kind, it has a dedicated fan community, and that's where many of the calls for further in-game accessibility understandably arise.
During a recent live stream, one of the developers of the game was seemingly tired of the complaints from disabled players, saying that the conversation surrounding accessibility was "boring," asking players to stop "badgering" him about it, and saying it would get done "if someone decides it's important." This sparked outrage among the community and from disability advocacy groups, who proceeded to "badger" the developer in order to get across the importance of accessibility in all games.
Behavior Interactive heard the fan feedback from this incident and revealed via Twitter hours later that it was indeed working on a colorblind option for the game. The included clip shows that the troublesome killer markings will now be visible in several different shades, addressing three specific strains of color blindness. This also affects other highlighted items on the map, including the generators both teams have to go after and the hooks killers use to sacrifice victims. The developer also confirms that the options are currently timed for the next major update (or chapter) of the game, which doesn't yet have a firm release date.
It's a win in any book when a game inches closer to being accessible to all players, so it's good to see Dead by Daylight's developers responding to calls for colorblind support that have gone unanswered for quite some time. That's poor optics no matter how one slices it, and the way the update was announced as a response to bad PR doesn't make Behavior look very altruistic.
While newly released games are getting better and better about including options that satisfy the entire player base, games released several years ago have to lay the tracks ahead of an already moving train and respond to these expansions in support in order to compete and stay relevant. With continued effort (and, most likely, player pressure), Dead by Daylight will continue on the path to wider accessibility after this incident.
Dead by Daylight is available for all platforms.
Source: Steven Spohn, Dead by Daylight