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The Springtrap's out of the bag - Five Night's at Freddy's biggest of big bads is coming to Dead by Daylight. Announced at PAX East 2025, Springtrap's addition to the smash-hit asymmetrical horror game is the latest in a long line of playable killers from other franchises, the list of which includes Freddy Krueger, Ghostface, and the xenomorph. However, there are still two iconic horror villains that the game's director would still love to see join the party, and on the PAX show floor, Popverse learned who.

Let's back up a bit - the game director for Dead by Daylight is the absolutely delightful Mathieu Coté, who also handles getting production studios to lend their characters to the game. Coté and spoke very briefly about his experience creating that literal murderer's row, and I couldn't help but ask about who he'd still like to see added to their ranks

"There are a couple," Coté responded, "and most of them, I can't really talk about. But there's a couple that I really, really would like to see [...] In terms of the big ones, there's two that are missing."

"Everybody's top of the list," he reveals, are "Pennywise and Jason [...] Those two guys should be there by any means."

While Coté didn't go into detail about what stage Dead by Daylight's legal team is in in getting these characters (we're guessing early, if they're at any stage at all), he did say that the IP holders for both of those characters are aware that Behavious would like to use their likenessed.

"For the last 10 years," Coté tells me, "We've been saying, 'The door is wide open. Whenever you're ready, walk right in.'"

That said, horror fans should remember that having licensed characters appear in another company's game is difficulto, to say the least. "The licensing world is exceedingly complex," Coté says. "There's always something; there's always people that get in the way [...] so this is not something that's happening right now, but I would really like us to be able to complete the collection."

You and me both, Mathieu, you and me both.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
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• How to play every GTA game in order
• Why the GTA 6 budget isn't as crazy as you think
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And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.