Mangled monsters are transphobic.
On March 12th, 2024, Behaviour Interactive launched the “All Things Wicked” update for Dead by Daylight, a multiplayer only survival horror game known for its reliance on commercial tie-ins and promotions to sustain interest.
We’ve previously discussed the game following the hilarious hypocrisy made by Dead by Daylight’s chief of staff in regards to Palworld being “boring and repetitive.”
The central gameplay mechanic of Dead by Daylight is straightforward: four survivors must evade a single killer while working together to repair generators and escape the map through activated exit gates.
Survivors collaborate on generator repairs, offer healing assistance, and strategize for their collective survival and escape, now that we’re all caught up to speed, Behaviour Interactive has made a lucrative source of income by peddling in-game microtransaction cosmetics and additions, namely with collaborations with big name franchises such as Michael Myers, Stranger Things and…. Naughty Bear.
The game itself is mundane, basic and repetitive, the only reason it maintains relevance is through regular collaborative updates that brings new cosmetics to purchase and “killers” to escape, this time around the latest addition is a creature known as “The Unknown.”
This new killer, officially described as gender-neutral, possesses the unique ability to wear cosmetics from both male and female options simultaneously, with the character being voiced by transgender voice actor, Zoey Alexandria.
In Dead by Daylight, “The Unknown” is depicted as a repulsive, gender neutral disfigured mass of flesh. While one might anticipate such a character in a survival horror game to be unsettling, the addition of this new killer has stirred controversy.
The voice actor for the character took to social media, expressing outrage over what they perceive as transphobia in the design.
They claimed they were not informed of the character’s appearance during voice recording sessions, and they lamented that association with the alleged “transphobic” monster has damaged their reputation and potentially exposed them to physical harm in public.
These claims are entirely bullshit, much akin to the supposed “trans genocide” brought upon by the existence of Hogwarts Legacy in a failed boycott attempt, with trans advocates harassing streamers who were enjoying themselves playing the game on top of making a dedicated website for the sole purpose of checking if a specific streamer has played “that wizard game”, obviously with “good intentions” I’m sure.
Zoey even went as far as to demand reparations from Behaviour Interactive for deception and emotional damages.
I’m confident that people worldwide will easily recognize Zoey’s face from “The Unknown.” Frankly, the outcry seems so absurd and extreme that I can’t help but burst out laughing.
After calming down, Zoey issued an update aiming to clarify any “misunderstanding.” They stated that they were not kept informed about The Unknown’s design and suggested that Behaviour Interactive, the developers, were aware of “trolls” creating “transphobic” memes from the character’s disfigured appearance.
It seems that some individuals interpret the character’s ability to wear cosmetics from both genders as transphobic, particularly when equipping The Unknown with a wig. It’s almost as if these individuals project themselves onto the disfigured creature.
As an illustration, on March 13th, a user on the Dead by Daylight forum raised concerns about the character and its skins. In their post, they highlighted the cheerleader outfit, which they felt perpetuated a harmful stereotype of trans women as a “masculine” hunk of flesh that consumes their victims in a feminine attire portrayed as menacing and repulsive.
It’s remarkable how some individuals fail to engage their critical thinking skills. The Unknown isn’t even human, more rather it appropriates human bodies to wear as flesh suits. That’s hardly representative of being transgender, and it’s laughable to suggest otherwise. If anything, the fact that some individuals take offense to this speaks more about them than anything else, at least for once a video game incorporates an accurate representation of a marginalized group.
Could it be that they feel guilty about their transition or perhaps disgusted with themselves?
The fact that The Unknown is voiced by a trans woman, which would otherwise be an exciting piece of trivia given the pro-LGBTQ+ nature of the developers themselves, amplifies the perceived offensiveness of launching with these cosmetics from those who see themselves inside a horror game.
I anticipate the studio will go to great lengths to apologize, even though the notion of offering reparations for a voice actor role is absurd. Such people are not to be taken seriously as they are magnets for drama.
