Jason Voorhees Is Finally Coming to Dead by Daylight

It took a decade, a whole lot of legal drama, and one cancelled game — but Jason Voorhees is finally coming to Dead by Daylight. Behaviour Interactive officially confirmed the news, and the gaming internet collectively lost its mind.

Why This Took So Long

If you remember Friday the 13th: The Game, you know the story. Gun Media’s asymmetric horror game launched in 2017 to massive hype, then slowly died due to a years-long rights dispute between the original film’s creators. That lawsuit didn’t just kill that game — it kept Jason locked out of basically every other game too.

Now that the legal dust has finally settled, Behaviour Interactive wasted no time. The reveal came through a livestream that showed a quiet cabin scene before Jason dramatically stepped into frame. No teaser, no slow drip of clues. Just Jason. The crowd-pleasing moment fans have been waiting years for.

When Can You Play It?

The Public Test Build (PTB) goes live on May 26, 2026 — that’s tomorrow if you’re reading this on launch day. The full release is set for June 16, 2026, which is perfectly timed to coincide with Dead by Daylight’s 10th anniversary celebration.

Behaviour is clearly making this a centerpiece of the anniversary. Ten years of Dead by Daylight, and they’re closing it out with arguably the most requested killer the game has ever had.

What to Expect From Jason in DBD

No full kit breakdown has been released yet, but the PTB will give players a first look at his power set. Based on Jason’s character from the films, expect:

Heavy emphasis on tracking and patrolling map locations
A high-threat presence designed around fear and inevitability
Some callback to his iconic weapons — machete, axe, and that unmistakable hockey mask

Behaviour has been in a solid groove lately with killer design, so expectations are high that Jason will feel appropriately terrifying rather than just another addition to the roster.

The Bigger Picture

Dead by Daylight has been pulling in horror icons for years — Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Ghostface, Pinhead, Chucky — but Jason always felt like the one that got away. His absence was noticeable. Now the roster finally feels complete.

For longtime fans of asymmetric horror, this is genuinely a big deal. Jason isn’t just a guest character — he’s arguably the slasher icon, the one who defined the genre. Having him in Dead by Daylight after all these years feels like a proper milestone.

How to Try It Early

If you’re on PC and want to jump into the PTB, you can access it through Steam by switching to the PTB beta branch in Dead by Daylight’s properties. Note that PTB progress doesn’t carry over to the main game, but it’s your best chance to play as Jason before everyone else.

The full release drops June 16. Set a reminder, because this one’s going to be packed when it goes live.