Dead by Daylight and Stranger Things: the two chapters, the dates, and the characters
Guide · Game · Chapters
Two chapters, four survivors, two killers, one map that came back with the first. In this article: the 2019 chapter, the removal and the return, the 2026 chapter, the difference between the monsters, and what the game does not tell in place of the series. By the end, you will know which chapter contains whom.
Dead by Daylight crossed paths with Stranger Things twice: a first chapter on September 17, 2019, a second on January 27, 2026. Between the two, the content left the game's store, then it came back. Here is who you play, which dates to keep, and what not to mix up.
The essentials
- Chapter 1: September 17, 2019: Demogorgon, Nancy, Steve
- Absence: store closed from November 17, 2021 to November 6, 2023
- Chapter 2: January 27, 2026: Henry Creel, Eleven, Dustin
- Do not mix them up: the beast, Henry, and the Mind Flayer are three distinct entities
Contents
Markers
| Date | What happens in the game |
|---|---|
| September 17, 2019 | Release of the first chapter, with patch 3.2.0 |
| August 16, 2021 | Announcement that the chapter is leaving |
| November 17, 2021 | The chapter leaves the store |
| November 6, 2023 | Return of the characters, the outfits, and the map |
| January 6, 2026 | Announcement of the second chapter |
| January 27, 2026 | Release of the second chapter |
These dates come from the announcements of Behaviour Interactive, the game's studio, and from the second chapter's sheet. They are not dates from the series. 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986 remain the Hawkins years in the story. The game, you visit whenever you want.
The Demogorgon T-shirt, the killer of the 2019 chapter.
In the shopMen's T-shirt Demogorgon Live Hawkins39,90 €See the product
The first chapter: one beast, two high-school students
The first chapter was released on September 17, 2019. It is the thirteenth addition to the game. It brings one killer and two survivors, which was a first: until then, a chapter brought only one survivor along with the killer.
The killer is the Demogorgon, the creature of 1983, mouth open, not a masked man. The two survivors are Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington, in worn high-school clothes: a torn sweatshirt for her, sleeves rolled up for him. A legendary outfit also lets you play Jonathan Byers in place of one of the survivors. He is not a third separate character: it is an appearance.
The map is called The Underground Complex. It takes the lab and the tunnels, not the Byers house and not the mall. You run there. You do not replay Hopper's investigation minute by minute.
The chapter does not sum up season 1. It borrows silhouettes. Nancy already has the reporter's reflex, Steve has already left the role of high-school top dog. If you only know the game, you see two teenagers and a beast. The reason they run together is in the series, not on the character sheet.
Three years out, then the return
On August 16, 2021, Behaviour Interactive announces that the chapter will leave the game on November 17, 2021. On that date, you can no longer buy it. The studio does not promise new content for these characters.
The point guides often mix up: players who had already bought the chapter kept the Demogorgon, Nancy, Steve, and their outfits. They could keep playing them. The map, though, was removed for everyone, including those who owned the chapter. It is not the same treatment.
The perks belonging to these characters had become general perks, available without them. On the return, they got their original names back. Behaviour warned that they would become exclusive again: what you had already unlocked during the absence stayed unlocked, but the next tiers asked for the characters once more.
The return takes place on November 6, 2023, a November 6 chosen because it is the day fans associate with the series. Characters, outfits, and the map come back together. Jonathan's outfit too. From that day, the first chapter can be bought again. It was not rewritten: it is the same content, put back on the shelf.
The second chapter: Henry, Eleven, and Dustin
Behaviour announces the second chapter on January 6, 2026. It is released on January 27, 2026. The killer is Henry Creel. In the game he is presented under the name The First, and the sheet also calls him Vecna. The two survivors are Dustin Henderson and Eleven, called Eleven on the English sheet.
Dustin is described as the member of the party who catches on fast and stays loyal. Eleven is described as the child from the lab, raised under the number 011, who left to protect the others. These are character-sheet summaries, not the chapters. They are enough to recognize the characters. They tell neither the desert nor the Creel house scene by scene.
The purchase adds two cosmetic items: a badge whose English name is Mind Flayer Badge, and a banner of the rainbow room. The badge carries the English name of the Mind Flayer. It is not a third killer. It is an accessory.
The second chapter does not erase the first. The Demogorgon remains the 2019 killer. Henry is the 2026 killer. You can own both. Nancy and Steve are not replaced by Eleven and Dustin: the game then has four survivors from the series, plus Jonathan's appearance, and two killers.
The figure of the beast, mouth open, to set next to the screen.
In the shopBuildable mini figure Demogorgon open flower14,90 €See the product
What not to mix up
Vecna is not the Demogorgon. The first opens a mouth and hunts in the corridors. The second is a man, Henry Creel, who bends bodies. The game splits them into two chapters because the series splits them too.
Vecna is not the Mind Flayer. The Mind Flayer is the bodiless mind that occupies Will in 1984 and that takes a flesh form in the summer of 1985. Henry is a human from the lab, who became something else. The cosmetic badge that carries the English name of the Mind Flayer does not merge the two. An accessory is not a character.
The Demogorgon is not the Mind Flayer either. In 1983, the beast is a creature. In 1984, the presence that speaks through Will is something else. The game put only the beast in the first chapter, and that is the right choice: a killer who runs and a killer who aims from far away are not played the same way.
One last mix-up, common on the sheets: Eleven is not a number you can swap with Henry. Henry is 001, she is 011. In the game, one kills, the other survives. In the series, their bond is the subject of season 4, not a shared identity.
What the game does not replace
A match lasts the time of a chase. It does not last the time of a season. You do not see Joyce's wall, or the dance, or Max's letter, or Eddie's club. Eddie Munson is not a survivor of these two chapters. Looking for him on the 2019 list or the January 2026 list is to mix him up with a costume that is not in the cast of these releases.
The sheets flatten the characters. Steve, in the game, is the high-school kid with the bat. In the series, he becomes Dustin's protector, Robin's partner, then something else again. Nancy is the reporter on the high-school paper, not only a survivor who fixes a generator. Dustin is the boy in the cap who solves things, not one more body in a team of four.
If you come from the game and want the story, start with the pilot, not with chapter 2. Henry, on the sheet, is already the killer. In the series, it takes seasons to learn who he was. The reverse order spoils the spring of 1986.
If you come from the series and only want to recognize the silhouettes, the first chapter is enough for 1983 and for Steve and Nancy. The second is enough for Henry, Eleven, and Dustin. Neither of them tells the final season. That is not their subject.
Which one to get, depending on what you have seen
You have only seen the first season: the 2019 chapter is the closest. The Demogorgon, Nancy, Steve, the underground lab. You will not be ahead of a 1986 reveal.
You have seen through season 4: the 2026 chapter teaches you nothing the series has not already set down about Henry, Eleven, and Dustin. It lets you play them. Henry's sheet is explicit about his role as killer. Do not open it if you are still at the Hellfire Club and do not know who is cursing the high school.
You want both: they stack. Purchase order does not matter in the game. Discovery order does, if you have not finished the series. Keep Henry for after the ninth chapter of season 4.
You are looking for Max, Mike, Lucas, Will, or Hopper in these chapters: they are not there as playable characters of these two releases. The game took five playable silhouettes, plus Jonathan as an appearance, and two killers. The rest of the party stays in the series.
A phone case with the creature's likeness, for those coming out of the game.
In the shopMatte iPhone case Striped Demogorgon19,90 €See the product
To remember2019: the Demogorgon, Nancy, Steve, the underground map. Out of the shop from November 2021 to November 2023. Buyers kept the characters. 2026: Henry Creel, Eleven, Dustin. Three separate entities: the beast, Henry, the Mind Flayer.
Frequently asked questions
When was the first chapter released?
September 17, 2019. It contains the Demogorgon, Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, and the map of the underground complex.
Why did it disappear?
It left the store on November 17, 2021, announced on August 16. Those who had bought it kept the characters. The map was removed for everyone. Everything came back on November 6, 2023.
When was chapter 2 released?
January 27, 2026, announced on January 6. The killer is Henry Creel. The survivors are Eleven and Dustin Henderson.
Is Vecna the Demogorgon in the game?
No. Vecna is not the Demogorgon. One is the killer of the 2026 chapter, the other that of 2019.
Is Eddie in these chapters?
No. The playable survivors of these two releases are Nancy, Steve, Eleven, and Dustin, plus an appearance of Jonathan.
Do you need to have finished the series?
For the first chapter, season 1 is enough to recognize the silhouettes. For the second, better to have seen season 4: Henry's sheet says who he is.
