Horror often has a hard time reaching mainstream audiences as not everyone enjoys being scared. That’s why the 2019 crossover between two of the most popular names in the genre,Stranger Thingsfor TV andDead By Daylightfor gaming was so exciting.Stranger Things' Demogorgonfit right in with the rest of the killers included in the game and both of the show’s DLC survivors, Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington, were dream additions to the roster.
Unfortunately, today it was announced that allStranger Thingscontent would be leaving the popular asymmetric horror multiplayer gameDead By Daylighton July 09, 2025. While the game uses plenty of established horror IPs, perhaps none of them are bigger than the hit Netflix showStranger Things. After all, Netflix reports that just a week after the show’s third season aired, over 40 million Netflix accounts had watched it. Questions regarding why the DLC content is leaving theDBDstore have been making the internet rounds and, while there hasn’t been any official confirmation as to what’s going on behind the scenes, there are some signs that point to the most likely culprit: expiring licenses.
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As stated above, there’s been no official confirmation about whyDead By Daylightis removing theStranger Thingscastfrom its online storefront. That said, it seems like the characters are leaving becauseDead By Daylight’s license to use them is expiring meaning that they can no longer sell content related to the Netflix series. This is a problem that many games that use licensed content run into after their licenses run out.
Before live service games likeDead By Daylightexisted, if a game were to license content, it would need to continue renewing the license to keep selling the game. This is why titles such asScott Pilgrim vs. The World: The GameandAlan Wakeneeded to be taken off of online storefrontsfor a time until they could renew their licenses. Because all of theStranger Thingscontent inDead By Daylightis DLC and not accessible without a purchase in the main game,Dead By Daylightitself doesn’t need to go anywhere, it can just simply stop selling the content.
How to Get the Stranger Things Content Before It’s Gone
Fans ofStranger Thingswho don’t yet own any of theDBDcontent still have time to grab it before it leaves the game’s store forever. The three characters, the Demogorgon, Steve, and Nancy, as well as the Hawkins National Laboratory map, will be leaving on November 17, but fans can still purchase them until then. From now until they’re gone, allStranger Thingscontent will be half off in the store which includes all three characters as well as their alternative outfits.
Fortunately, anyone who’s purchased characters and outfits will be able to keep them after they leave the store in November, however, theStranger Thingsmap will be leaving the rotation entirely and likely not ever coming back. The achievements and trophies that have been made for the DLC characters will be repurposed and made generic so that anyone can unlock them without having to purchase the content. Anyone who’s already unlocked them won’t lose the trophy or gamerscore, but it will be repurposed for everyone else. In a similar vein, allStranger Thingsspecific character perkswill be given a similar treatment and thrown into the pool for anyone to grab once everything gets delisted.
Dead by Daylightis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
