Dead by Daylight – Hellraiser, FNaF, Pennywise, Alien & Candyman Speculations: ‘Confusing’ Viral Marketing – Good Choice or Not?

ByNiito

To tease Chapter 21, the Dead by Daylight team has adopted a very particular strategy: scattering clues across social media that seem connected to several famous horror franchises at once, deliberately confusing the community and fueling speculation.

At the same time, several clues have also led players to speculate about both Hellraiser and Five Nights at Freddy’s.

HELLRAISER

There are mainly four reasons why many fans believe Hellraiser could be the next license coming to Dead by Daylight:

  • The letters revealed through the social media clues are all part of the word “Hellraiser”;
  • In one of the teasers posted online, Ace was shown locked inside a cage, which many interpreted as a reference to the puzzle box connected to Pinhead;
  • The Game Director of Dead by Daylight has openly stated several times that he is a huge fan of the Hellraiser franchise and would love to bring it into the game;
  • In the latest teaser released yesterday, which featured the letter “E”, fans also noticed a pin that does not exist anywhere in the game. Many believe this could be a direct reference to Pinhead himself, whose head is covered in pins — the feature from which he gets his name.

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S

There are also two major reasons why players started believing that Five Nights at Freddy’s could be the next chapter coming to Dead by Daylight:

  • The reveal of the name “Springtrap” by the FNaF developer happened in a very similar way to how the Dead by Daylight team is currently teasing the next chapter: by playing with hidden letters. Back in 2015, the creator of FNaF made a Steam post containing doubled letters in certain words which, when combined, spelled out “My Name is Springtrap.” Similarly, the Dead by Daylight team has been using letter-based teasers and even included doubled letters in the word “circus” in one of the recent posts;
  • About a month ago, players discovered an Archive challenge whose title contained the words “Spring” and “Trap”, immediately sparking theories about a future FNaF chapter. Additionally, some fans believe that one of the recent teasers contains a figure resembling Springtrap’s face, while the image of Ace being “trapped” inside the cage could also reference the name “Springtrap.”

 

What do you think about this strategy? Do you enjoy this kind of marketing that intentionally confuses players and encourages speculation about multiple licenses at the same time, or would you prefer more direct teasers that clearly hint at the actual upcoming chapter?

 

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