For a decade, Dead by Daylight fans have had one ultimate dream on their horror wishlist. We’ve seen Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, and Ghostface stalk through The Fog, but the crown prince of Camp Crystal Lake was always missing. Legally locked away in a chaotic maze of licensing disputes, he felt like the one iconic slasher the game would never truly capture.
Well, wipe off that machete and put on your favourite hockey mask, because the impossible just became reality.
Behaviour Interactive has officially announced that Jason Voorhees is coming to Dead by Daylight on June 16, 2026.
Serving as the absolute crown jewel of the game’s monumental 10th Anniversary celebration (Chapter 40), the Friday the 13th icon is finally ready to show the Entity how real butchery is done. If you happen to be playing on Steam’s Public Test Build (PTB), you can actually jump in right now to test his mechanics ahead of the global launch.
Here is everything we know about how Jason is going to completely upend the DbD meta.
Welcome to the Camp: Jason’s Killer Abilities
Jason isn’t just another M1 brute with a knife; Behaviour has built a terrifying, lore-accurate kit that brings his supernatural cinematic presence to life. He will launch with two devastating core abilities:
1. Omnipresent Evil
Ever wonder how Jason manages to casually walk after a sprinting teenager and somehow still teleport right in front of them? This is how. Omnipresent Evil is a high-octane stealth power that allows Jason to completely vanish from the map. While invisible, he moves at an accelerated speed and tracks survivors via subtle footstep cues. To manifest, he must target environmental structures like pallets, vault windows, or breakable walls—bursting out of them for the ultimate jump scare.
2. Improvised Carnage
Jason utilises his environment like no other slasher. With Improvised Carnage, Jason can grab scattered debris across the map—think locker fragments, broken generator parts, or shattered pallets—and hurl them as deadly projectiles. A successful hit staggers survivors. Even worse? If you hit an already injured survivor near a wall, the projectile will literally pin them in place, leaving them completely helpless.
Bonus Wardrobe: Jason will launch with four unique outfits on June 16. His default look features his classic 13-holed hockey mask and weathered clothing, but a “Backwoods Terror” outfit has also been teased for players looking to change up their killer style.
Why This is a Historic Win for Horror Gaming
To understand why the community is collectively losing its mind, you have to look back at the tragic death of Friday the 13th: The Game. Due to a brutal, multi-year legal deadlock over the rights between original writer Victor Miller and Horror Inc., the dedicated asymmetrical game was forced to halt content updates and was completely delisted in 2023.
The horror genre felt fragmented. But thanks to the recent “Jason Universe” initiative by Horror Inc.—which was designed to finally streamline the franchise’s rights for multimedia and gaming—Behaviour Interactive was able to strike a deal just in time for their 10th anniversary.
Mark Your Calendars
The global cross-platform release drops on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and last-gen consoles.
The 10th-anniversary festivities will run from June 16 through July 7, complete with exclusive cosmetics and community rewards. Behaviour is also hosting a massive live event in Montreal on June 14 to show off more gameplay panels right before the update goes live.
The Fog is about to get a whole lot bloodier. Survivors, you have been warned.
Source – https://epic.gm/dbd
#DbD #DeadByDaylight #JasonVoorhees #FridayThe13th #GamingNews