Dead by Daylight
Games review
As of Aug 12, 2026, Dead by Daylight is rated 64/100 on Metacritic (18 critic reviews), and 78% positive on Steam (926,441 reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Opens Dead by Daylight's own site, not a review site.
Is Dead by Daylight worth it in 2026?
Dead by Daylight earns its 78% positive rating almost despite itself, the addictive loop is real, with 5 separate reviewers independently noting they keep returning even when they resent the game, but the 64/100 from critics and the sheer volume of complaints tell the fuller story. The toxic community, flagged by 12 of the sampled reviews and the single most-mentioned issue by a wide margin, is not background noise you can tune out, it is the social fabric of every match. Balance problems (8 mentions), repetitive gameplay (3 mentions), and matchmaking that routinely throws coordinated teams at solo killers compound into a package that actively fights against its own hook. The game has a genuine compulsive pull, but years of unresolved design failures mean you are chasing something that the developers and community have made consistently harder to enjoy.
Players who want a social horror experience with friends and can invest time learning game knowledge and perk systems rather than raw mechanical skill, the experience is meaningfully better on the survivor side and with people you trust.
The killer role is structurally punishing: poor matchmaking regularly pairs you against coordinated survivor teams after only a few decent games, balance issues skew matches further, and expensive cosmetics sit on top of an already costly frustration.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Pros
- addictive gameplay loop5
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- You might despise the game with all the might you got, but you will eventually hop back on it regardless like nothing ever happened, ending up in a cycle.
- Do not misunderstand i really like the Game and it`s gameplay very well it has a very addicting gameplay loop, but every time i play i feel like i am in a toxic relationship i can´...
- Well, well... Dead by Daylight. This game is like a toxic relationship. I really hate it, yet I can't go a single day without launching it. I started playing it during a time wh...
Cons
- toxic community12
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- you know when you ignore the balancing issues and constant bugs and toxic community and frustrating gameplay and overly expensive cost and cheaters and dedicated servers and annoyi...
- There are so many reasons as to why this game is bad and why I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. The state of the game is now worse than ever. The community is incredibly toxic and...
- I tried this game for 5 hours, but it’s simply not for me. Sure, you don't see absolutely everything in that time, but you do see the core game, and the core just doesn't suit me....
- balance issues8
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- you know when you ignore the balancing issues and constant bugs and toxic community and frustrating gameplay and overly expensive cost and cheaters and dedicated servers and annoyi...
- There are so many reasons as to why this game is bad and why I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. The state of the game is now worse than ever. The community is incredibly toxic and...
- This game is utterly unplayable as killer. You get 3 good games and then every match is against coordinated teams running full meta sweating their asses off like their family line...
- repetitive gameplay3
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- I tried this game for 5 hours, but it’s simply not for me. Sure, you don't see absolutely everything in that time, but you do see the core game, and the core just doesn't suit me....
- One match was enough for me to realize that this game's gameplay is ridiculously repetitive.
- I hate this game, i hate how lazy and inept the devs are, i hate the lack of competition this game has, i hate how pricey some of the skins are, i hate how repetitive it is, how to...
- poor matchmaking3
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- This game is utterly unplayable as killer. You get 3 good games and then every match is against coordinated teams running full meta sweating their asses off like their family line...
- Why am I constantly being thrown against high-level players who have been playing since release? Where is the skill-based matchmaking? As a newer player, I am not learning anythin...
- Dead by Daylight is truly one of the most welcoming gaming experiences ever created. The developers listen to the community so much that every patch feels like a personal attack d...
- killer role unfair3
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- This game is utterly unplayable as killer. You get 3 good games and then every match is against coordinated teams running full meta sweating their asses off like their family line...
- Don't buy this game if you want to play the killers. The devs of this game do not care. Survivors are the majority and you're expected to git gud even when the game is genuinely st...
- This game is dreadful, at it's best. You wanna play killer role? May as well smash your testicles with a hammer, that'd probably be more fun. How about survivor? If you're solo, go...
- expensive cosmetics3
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- you know when you ignore the balancing issues and constant bugs and toxic community and frustrating gameplay and overly expensive cost and cheaters and dedicated servers and annoyi...
- I hate this game, i hate how lazy and inept the devs are, i hate the lack of competition this game has, i hate how pricey some of the skins are, i hate how repetitive it is, how to...
- The developers consistently lower or remove extra ways for the player base to earn in game currency that can't be bought with real money. They for some reason have been wanting to...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 26 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 926.5K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.