Behaviour Interactive
Canadian studio behind Dead by Daylight, a decade-old asymmetric horror live-service game.
On the record
Checkpoint: Saw: Genesis launch, the first title aimed squarely at Dead by Daylight's audience
The call
Dead by Daylight keeps growing in its tenth year while Behaviour trims staff around it, leaving the game strong and the company leaner.
Behaviour Interactive makes Dead by Daylight, a multiplayer horror game that is still growing after ten years and has tens of millions of players. It also owns two smaller studios that make different games. The company is hard to replace because it has built a community of players, knows how to match people fairly in matches, and owns stories and characters that fans stick around for, which a new rival or an AI system would take years to match. The big risk is that the company has laid off workers four times since early 2024, including recently from its main team, because other game companies have stopped hiring them to make smaller projects, a job AI can now do. If Dead by Daylight stops growing or if the studio cultures at the two smaller companies clash with the main studio, the whole setup could fall apart.
Why
01
AI pressure: Generative AI tools commoditizing work-for-hire and mobile co-dev contracts. AI-assisted studios are undercutting the external contract work Behaviour used to rely on, a cited driver of its 2026 layoffs. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: NetEase. NetEase holds a minority stake and a board seat while also running its own live-service multiplayer studios that compete for the same players. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Ten years of Dead by Daylight matchmaking data, 70M+ registered players, and licensed horror crossovers rivals cannot copy overnight.
What would change this call
Saw: Genesis ships Fall 2026 and Dead by Daylight Steam concurrents drop measurably. Would show a new asymmetric horror title contesting Behaviour's audience for the first time in a decade.
Dead by Daylight trailing 12 month revenue growth turns negative for two straight quarters. Would signal the decade long growth streak reversing rather than just slowing.
A fifth layoff round hits core Dead by Daylight staff within 12 months. Would confirm structural cost pressure beyond a one time correction.
Dead by Daylight trailing 12 month revenue growth turns negative for two straight quarters. Would signal the decade long growth streak reversing rather than just slowing.
A fifth layoff round hits core Dead by Daylight staff within 12 months. Would confirm structural cost pressure beyond a one time correction.
Key numbers
- Dead by Daylight revenue up 50%+ YoY
- 70M+ lifetime Dead by Daylight players
- ~79K daily average Steam concurrent players
Named risks
- Four layoff rounds since January 2024, including core Dead by Daylight staff cut in April 2026.
- Single-title revenue concentration on decade-old Dead by Daylight despite recent diversification.
- Unresolved unionization tension with denied but unproven retaliation allegations, April 2026.
- Integration risk on Red Hook Studios and The Fun Pimps acquisitions, creative independence unproven.
- Community distrust over generative AI hiring despite no-AI-content policy.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Illfonic (Friday the 13th: The Game) | gaining on | Single-license rival game died, cited by Behaviour as evidence licensed-only competitors fail (2026-03-15, vendor-claimed) |
| Gun Interactive (Texas Chain Saw Massacre) | gaining on | Behaviour remains dominant in asymmetric horror genre through 2026 per Dead by Daylight's decade-long lead |
| Saw: Genesis (untitled developer) | contesting | New 3v1 asymmetric horror title slated Fall 2026, seen as first real test of DbD's concurrent player base |
| NetEase | contesting | Minority investor since July 2019 also competes in live-service multiplayer, an unusual overlap |
Questions people ask
- Is Behaviour Interactive profitable in 2026?
- Behaviour does not disclose net profit, but CEO Remi Racine said Dead by Daylight's revenue grew more than 50% over the trailing 12 months as of June 11, 2026, calling 2025 the game's most successful year yet, suggesting strong top-line health for its flagship title.
- Has Behaviour Interactive had layoffs?
- Yes. Behaviour cut roughly 45 staff in January 2024, about 95 in June 2024, another round in December 2024, and in April 2026 laid off around 8 to 10 people from the Dead by Daylight team plus staff on other titles, citing shrinking mobile and casual work-for-hire demand.
- Who owns Behaviour Interactive?
- Behaviour is privately held and founder-led by CEO Remi Racine. Gaea Interactive took a 20% stake in October 2018, and NetEase Games acquired a strategic minority stake with one board seat in July 2019; no full acquisition or IPO has occurred as of mid-2026.
- Could AI replace Behaviour Interactive or Dead by Daylight?
- Unlikely for the core game. Behaviour publicly committed, reaffirmed between September 2025 and April 2026, to not ship generative-AI-created content in Dead by Daylight, while using AI only internally via a Generative AI Research Team for workflow efficiency, not shipped assets.
- Who is Behaviour Interactive's biggest competitor?
- In asymmetric horror multiplayer, rivals include Illfonic (Friday the 13th: The Game, now defunct), Gun Interactive's Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and the upcoming Saw: Genesis slated for Fall 2026; none has displaced Dead by Daylight's dominant position as of mid-2026.
- How big is Dead by Daylight as of 2026?
- Dead by Daylight has surpassed 70 million lifetime players as of July 2026, welcomed over 6 million new players in 2025, and reached roughly 170,000 peak and 79,000 daily average concurrent players on Steam as of July 2026, per SteamDB and Raijin tracking.
Timeline
- 2026-04-28Behaviour denies April 2026 layoffs were union-busting; ~8-10 core DbD staff cut
- 2026-03-24Behaviour Interactive acquires The Fun Pimps, maker of 7 Days to Die
- 2026-01-28Stephanie Marchand named COO, Nathan Sellyn named Deputy CEO
- 2024-12-31Third layoff wave follows Fun Pimps-adjacent strategic shifts
- 2024-09-30Behaviour acquires Red Hook Studios, maker of Darkest Dungeon
- 2024-06-05Behaviour lays off up to 95 employees in Montreal restructuring
- 2024-01-31Behaviour lays off ~45 employees, under 3% of workforce
- 2019-07-15NetEase Games takes strategic minority stake, one board seat
- 2018-10Gaea Interactive acquires 20% stake in Behaviour
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Dead by Daylight Celebrates Ten Years of Terror (2026-06-11)
- Behaviour Interactive (2026-07-10)
- Dead by Daylight Steam Stats & Charts · Raijin (2026-07-14)
- Dead by Daylight Steam Charts · SteamDB (2026-07-21)
- NetEase Games Announces Strategic Investment in Behaviour Interactive (2019-07-15)
- NetEase acquires minority stake Fallout Shelter dev Behaviour (2019-07-16)
- Dead By Daylight Developer Laying Off Nearly 100 Employees (2024-06-04)
- Dead By Daylight Developer Behaviour Interactive Is Laying Off Up To 95 Employees (2024-06-05)
- Dead by Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive announces wave of layoffs (2024-12-31)
- Dead By Daylight Dev Denies Rumors That Layoffs Were Union Busting (2026-04-28)
- Dead by Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive confirms layoffs (2026-04-22)
- Leading Independent Game Publisher (2026-07-07)