Dead By Daylight's Junji Ito collaboration should be the spark that lights a fire

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Dead in daylight has built an impressive library of collaborations over the years, with its lineup of killers and survivors now serving as a gateway to many iconic horror franchises. It is no longer as easy to surprise players with the character reveals now that everyone from Halloweenof Michael Myers silent hillPyramid Head has appeared in the game, but a recent reveal of the skin still managed to subvert expectations.




Slated for release in early 2025, a set of skins based on several of Junji Ito's works will come to Dead by Deadlight. While these aren't entirely new playable characters, the attention to detail they've been shown to have could mark a milestone in adapting the horror manga into games. With the untapped potential of efforts based on Junji Ito's creations made more evident by the mixed reception to recent Uzumaki anime, horror video games might be a more ideal platform to capture their essence.

Ghostface from Mortal Kombat 1 and Dead by Daylight

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The presence of Junji Ito's works in Dead by Daylight will set a new precedent

The appearance in the DBD reaffirms Ito's characters status among other horror icons

The fact that characters like Tomie and Souichi Tsuji will be sharing the stage with other antagonists from famous movies and iconic horror games underscores their growing popularity. As for bringing an art style that can be extremely difficult to adapt to in 3D with these new skins, Dead by DeadlightJunji Ito's collaboration demonstrates the unsettling resonance of these designs when kept true to their source material.


Restoring the lost hope of the past Silent Hill Rumors

After Hideo Kojima's ambitious project Silent Hills was canceled despite forhis hype, speculation that Junji Ito was involved in the project added to the sense of disappointment. It was later confirmed that he never had a concrete connection to the game, which was apparently still in development, but the future DBD skins seem to indicate that his style is still suitable for the environment.

Junji Ito's stories could stand up to his own survival horror experiences

Redeeming things as Uzumaki after previous poor adaptations

The terrifying quality of Ito's work is evident in print, but attempts to bring it into other media have often been criticized for failing to convey the same depth of horror. Although it started with a strong first episode, the Uzumaki anime saw a sharp decline in production fidelity and reception, following the example of the poorly received Junji Ito Collection. However, video games may not suffer from the same difficulties of translating Junji Ito's manga into animation. If a character like Miss Fuchi can manage to be comparably menacing while being fully modeled and colored, the potential to experience these fearsome designs can extend far beyond cosmetic skin.


Varied opportunities for horror subgenres

A handful of franchises particularly dominate the relatively niche survival horror space, but Junji Ito's many manga stories can only provide inspiration outside of that formula. Different interpretations of horror gameplay that might be possible with this diverse source material include:

  • Uzumaki, Hellstar Remina – These cosmic horror the stories could serve as the setting for role-playing adventures such as Call of Cthulhu.
  • Gyo, Hanging balloons – The epidemics that create the nightmare scenarios of these stories offer the chance for action horror involving hordes of enemies.
  • Tommy – Series like resident evil and The evil within they brought out the scares of body horror similar to the disturbing anthology that features the titular regenerative entity in the games.
  • The enigma of the Amigara fault, The human chair – These are more autonomous psychological horror The stories could be turned into narrative-driven thriller games based on environmental storytelling.

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