Bring Back Map Variants (And Add Even More)
One of the biggest mistakes Dead by Daylight has made in recent years was removing map variants. They added so much replayability to matches, and I honestly think the game feels more repetitive without them.
When people think back to older DBD, one of the biggest strengths was that every match felt different. You could load into Coal Tower or Suffocation Pit, but you didn’t instantly know every tile, every path, every pallet, or exactly where every strong loop would be. Even if you recognized the map, the layout itself could be completely different.
That’s how an asymmetrical game should feel.
Now, once you see the loading screen, most experienced players already know exactly what they’re about to play. The excitement of adapting to a different layout is mostly gone.
One thing I never understood about removing variants is that they actually solved problems people complain about today.
Take Suffocation Pit I and II for example. One version corrected weaknesses the other had, changing the overall flow of the map instead of forcing everyone to play the exact same layout forever. Rather than constantly redesigning maps from scratch, variants let Behaviour experiment with healthier layouts while keeping the map’s identity intact.
Players constantly complain about pallet density, chaining loops together, or maps heavily favoring one side. Map variants helped reduce those issues. One version might have fewer connected filler pallets. Another version might separate Shack from Main Building more effectively. Another might remove extremely safe tile combinations that appeared on the original version.
Instead of every single Coal Tower, Ormond, or Sanctum playing exactly the same, the strength of each layout varied naturally. Sometimes survivors got the stronger version. Sometimes killers did. Overall it balanced itself out over hundreds of games because no single layout dominated every match.
Nowadays, if a map has a frustrating setup, you know you’re getting that exact frustrating setup every single time.
That’s not variety.
That’s repetition.
One of the biggest complaints today is how easily survivors can chain Main Building into Shack into another safe tile. Variants often changed tile placement enough that those chains weren’t guaranteed. Every match required players to think on their feet instead of running the exact same route they’ve memorized for thousands of hours.
It also made skill expression matter more. Good survivors had to adapt. Good killers had to adapt. Neither side could rely purely on memorization.
Another huge benefit was replayability.
People always ask for more maps because they get tired of seeing the same ones.
But here’s the thing:
You don’t necessarily need dozens of brand-new maps.
You need more variety.
Map variants accomplish that with far less development time than creating entirely new realms.
Imagine every MacMillan map having three or four possible layouts.
Imagine every Autohaven map having variants.
Imagine Coldwind getting alternate corn placements, different structures, different generator spawns, different pallet routes.
Suddenly you’ve multiplied the amount of unique experiences without needing dozens of completely new maps.
I also think Behaviour handled variants the wrong way. Instead of treating them like separate maps internally, they should simply be part of the same map.
For example:
You load into Coal Tower.
Behind the scenes, the game randomly selects one of several layouts.
That’s it.
No “Coal Tower I.”
No “Coal Tower II.”
No clutter.
Just Coal Tower with multiple possible versions.
The same could apply to every map in the game.
This would also avoid one of the community’s biggest complaints—that variants felt like separate maps in the selection pool. Every map could have equal odds of being chosen, and then, after that map is selected, the game simply rolls one of its layouts. That keeps map weighting fair while still preserving variety.
I’ve seen people argue that removing variants made learning maps easier for newer players, and I understand that point. But Dead by Daylight has never been a game where perfect map knowledge comes overnight. Learning tiles, killers, perks, mindgames, and generator spawns already takes hundreds of hours. A little randomness in layouts is part of what makes each trial unique, and many players felt removing variants made matches noticeably more repetitive.
Personally, I’d rather Behaviour spend time creating new layouts for existing maps than constantly rebuilding maps from scratch.
Imagine:
- Multiple Coal Tower layouts.
- Multiple Blood Lodge layouts.
- Multiple Thompson House layouts.
- Multiple Dead Dawg layouts.
- Multiple Garden of Joy layouts.
Every match would feel fresher.
Every chase would be less predictable.
Every decision would matter more.
Dead by Daylight is at its best when adaptation matters more than memorization. Map variants encouraged adaptation. They reduced repetitive gameplay, created healthier variety, and gave each trial its own identity.
I genuinely hope Behaviour brings map variants back in the future—not as separate maps, but as randomized layouts under a single map name. It would make the game feel less repetitive, create more balanced experiences across both sides, and dramatically increase replayability without needing to flood the game with entirely new realms.
Sometimes the best way to make a game feel new isn’t adding more maps.
It’s making the maps we already have feel different every time we play them.
Another argument I’ve seen is that removing variants made the game easier for newer players because they no longer had to learn multiple versions of the same map.
I understand why that sounds like a good idea on paper, but I actually think it hurts the game in the long run.
Dead by Daylight shouldn’t be about memorizing every single pallet spawn, every filler tile, every jungle gym, and every path between loops. It should be about adapting to the situation in front of you. That’s what makes an asymmetrical game interesting.
When every map always loads the exact same layout, experienced players eventually memorize everything. They know which side has the strongest loops, where the dead zones are, which generators are easiest to defend, where survivors are most likely to rotate, and which paths let them chain structures together. At that point, players aren’t really making decisions anymore—they’re following a script they’ve learned over thousands of hours.
Map variants disrupted that.
You still recognized the map, but you had to actually look around and figure out what version you were playing. You couldn’t just assume a certain pallet was there or that Main Building connected to Shack the same way every match. Both killers and survivors had to adapt on the fly instead of relying entirely on memory.
That’s healthier gameplay in my opinion.
Knowledge should absolutely be rewarded, but so should quick thinking. The best players shouldn’t just be the ones who have memorized every inch of every map—they should be the ones who can recognize a layout, adapt to it, and make smart decisions in real time.
And if anyone thinks I’m exaggerating how balanced some of the old variants were, you can literally go into a custom match and load many of the old versions that are still available there. Walk around them. Compare their pallet distribution, loop connections, dead zones, and overall flow to the current versions. You’ll quickly notice that many of those variants naturally broke up some of the strongest chains that exist today and often created fairer opportunities for both sides.
It’s honestly surprising that layouts like those aren’t part of the normal map rotation anymore. They already exist, they’re already playable, and in many cases they provide exactly the kind of variety and balance that players have been asking for.
Another point I’ve seen people bring up is that map variants supposedly slowed down the production of entirely new maps. I honestly don’t understand that argument. A map variant isn’t the same thing as building a brand-new realm from scratch. You’re not creating new assets, new themes, new lighting, new textures, or new environmental art. You’re taking an existing map and changing the placement of structures, tiles, pallets, generators, and paths to create a different gameplay experience. I don’t see how moving around existing buildings and tile layouts would significantly slow down the development of completely new maps.
If anything, variants seem like one of the most efficient ways to increase replayability. They reuse assets that already exist while making every match feel less predictable. Behaviour could continue developing new realms while also introducing new layouts for older maps over time. The two ideas aren’t mutually exclusive. Creating variants shouldn’t have to come at the expense of brand-new maps, and bringing them back would breathe new life into the maps we already have while we wait for future realms to release.
I also think a lot of the negativity around map variants came from players simply not wanting to relearn maps they had already mastered. Once you’ve spent hundreds or even thousands of hours memorizing every strong rotation, every connected tile, and every safe path, having those layouts change can be frustrating. But I don’t think that’s a reason to remove a feature that adds depth to the game.
Dead by Daylight is at its best when players have to adapt instead of relying on habits. A chase should feel different depending on the layout you get, not because everyone already knows the exact route they’re going to run before the match even begins. Variants challenged experienced players to think on the fly rather than defaulting to the same strategies every game, and I think that’s a healthy direction for an asymmetrical game.
Games shouldn’t become easier simply because players have memorized everything. They should continue to reward awareness, decision-making, and adaptability. Map variants did exactly that, which is one of the reasons I’d love to see them return.
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