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At PAX East 2025, both Five Nights at Freddy's and Dead by Daylight fans were treated to something truly special. That is, the announcement that the two franchises were coming together for the first time. But wrapped up in that announcement, which revealed that antagonist Springtrap would be Dead By Daylight's next franchise DLC killer, there was another important first that fans might have missed.

You see, by making Springtrap a killer, Dead by Daylight has produced the first playable Springtrap in the history of the character. 

Fortunately, there was someone on hand to remind the crowd assembled at the Dead by Daylight 9th anniversary panel about the momentousness of this occasion. "For the first time ever," Dead by Daylight executive producer José Ramos told the packed room, "you'll be able to be in the suit." And more than that, he revealed, you'll be able to play Springtrap in a whole different suit - the Yellow Rabbit that appears in the Five Nights at Freddy's movie. 

In case you're not in the FNAF loop - Springtrap was first introduced in 2015's Five Nights at Freddy's 3, which means that the character has existed for a full decade before actually being able to play. Interestingly, that's just about as long as Dead by Daylight has been available for players - they made their debut at PAX East that year, the very convention where they announced their take on Springtrap just hours ago.

And before you go, we'd be remiss to not remind you that you technically won't be in Springtrap alone. Matthew Lillard, who memorably played the character in Blumhouse's Five Nights at Freddy's movie, is reprising the role for dialogue in the game. 

I guess if you have to wait a full decade to play your favorite horror villain in a game, having Stu Macher himself provide the voice is a decently worthy reason.

You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.