Dead by Daylight’s newest killer broke the game, but stole hearts

Dead by Daylight’s newest killer has been out for a few weeks now, but it didn’t take long for fans to realize that the character is buggy. The Twins, as they’re known, are meant to be a dangerous pair of scavengers, with big sister Charlotte protecting her little brother Victor. It would be wholesome if Victor wasn’t such a terrifying little nightmare goblin. However, the duo is a little less deadly than intended thanks to a plethora of bugs, like Victor clipping into the ground, vanishing in mid-air, and sending survivors into a broken void when they try to kick him.

The Twins are considered a weak killer right now by Dead by Daylight fans, as other killers, namely the Huntress and the Doctor, haunt every map. It’s an unfortunate situation, but there’s still a part of the fanbase that loves the Twins regardless. Part of it is due to their potential once their issues are fixed; an online game can always change things and improve characters.

The Twins have the benefit of being a cool, unique addition to the game, even if they don’t quite work correctly. There are few other games where you can play a pair of French peasants, plucked out of time and space so they can be used to terrorize a cast of plucky teens and desperate survivors.

One Dead by Daylight fan, Jocelynbee, said she was excited for the new killer as soon as she saw Charlotte.

“[The developers] come up with some really unique ideas that don’t even necessarily play on iconic horror tropes,” she told Polygon over Twitter. She first interpreted Charlotte as a mom, and she’s a mom herself, so she was instantly drawn to the Twins. “I was really excited to find out how the Twins play style would be since every killer is so different.”

“The Twins are a very fun killer to play against and being chased by a flying screaming baby which you can kick is hilarious,” wrote one fan on Reddit. (Due to child abuse policies, developer Behaviour Interactive does not allow fans to refer to Victor as a baby on forums like Discord.)

“We are well aware that this patch has some technical issues,” said Mathieu Cote, game director on Dead by Daylight, in a call with Polygon. “Nowadays, with so many consoles, so many different platforms, interlinked with crossplay, we cannot release a patch on one platform and not release it on another.”

Add in console certification issues and dealing with the various first parties, and the whole patch process becomes a waiting game for fans, and a headache for the developers. “This patch was one of the more difficult ones to release,” says Cote. “It’s not just the content, the new chapter and things like that — there are other things that are a part of that patch, whether it’s from the back end, whether it’s part of the graphics update, there’s a lot of different things we’re channeling at the same time.”

This leaves Dead by Daylight players in a weird place. The Twins are, in many ways, still a work in progress. In three months they might look entirely different. Cote said more changes are on the way for the Twins.

“Whenever we release something, there’s always a period — let’s say at least two weeks — where things sometimes change drastically,” Cote explained. “Because no matter how much testing we do on these things beforehand, getting it into the hands of a million people allows use to see things there’s no way we could have caught.”

Since launch, Behaviour has already tweaked the Twins; Victor can now trap survivors in lockers by clinging onto the doors. “We wanted to create a brand-new mechanic that didn’t exist before something really fun to play really creepy,” Cote said. “It might not be the most efficient, but it’s certainly gonna be one of the super fun ones.”

Fans love to yeet Victor and kick evil gremlins, but the Twins still have room to grow. The newest survivor to the game, Élodie Rakoto, arrived alongside the Twins as part of the Binding of Kin chapter. It means that this update really builds on the game’s wild lore — she’s a paranormal investigator who forced her way into the game, instead of being kidnapped. Even when the game struggles with technical issues, the characters shine though.

“Behaviour nailed the theme with the name, and the lore, and their powers, even down to their perks,” said Jocelynbee. “They’re one of the only killers with a tender aspect to them, as well.”

For her, moments like watching their idle animation where Charlotte holds Victor’s little hand are enough to fall in love … even if mere moments later, Victor will be leaping at her face from the shadows.

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