Fireside Chat: How the Home of Dead by Daylight has Stayed Independent.
summary
Behaviour Interactive stays independent by balancing paid service work (Microsoft, EA, Disney) with original IP, reinvesting profits into titles like Dead by Daylight, which reaches 50 million players. The company keeps ~1,300 people across six studios, grows by targeted acquisitions (Sock Monkey, UK South, Rotterdam, Seattle) and mitigates downturns by reassigning staff. Cultural rules matter: a no crunch policy and the Be Free program that lets employees prototype personal games, with buy‑in if a project succeeds. Service work is only accepted when someone on the team is passionate about the IP.
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chapters (9)
- 0:00Behavior Interactive intro
- 1:10Danny’s gaming background
- 3:14Sock Monkey Studios buy
- 5:46Behavior’s business model
- 8:14Meaning of independence
- 10:19Culture and work-life balance
- 12:29Industry challenges 2023
- 14:16Growth and expansion plans
- 16:00Games industry 2024
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