Dead by Daylight will begin its Anti-Cheat Trials on September 2, 2026. The programme will evaluate several tools directly in the PC game under normal conditions, starting with Denuvo Anti-Cheat.
Denuvo Anti-Cheat is separate from Denuvo Anti-Piracy and will not add DRM to the game. The announced details are outlined on Steam.
Denuvo will install on the first Steam launch
During the trial, Denuvo Anti-Cheat will be installed when Dead by Daylight is launched for the first time on Steam. Once the experiment ends, the tool will be automatically disabled and will stop running on the system.
Behaviour Interactive has not specified how long the experiment will last. It is also not presenting Denuvo Anti-Cheat as a definitive solution: there are no figures yet for cheater detection or the tool’s effect on performance. That makes this a limited evaluation rather than a confirmed long-term change.
Cross-play, Steam Deck and Proton stay in place
The rollout is limited to Steam on PC. Cross-play will not be affected, and support for Steam Deck and Proton will remain available. Players will continue to submit cheat reports through the feature built into the game.
A dedicated Discord channel is due to open on September 2, 2026. The full announcement is available on the official Dead by Daylight website, while the Dead by Daylight page and our article on Dead by Daylight 10.1.0 reveals The Judgment and revisits the provide additional resources on the subject.
The official announcement confirms the scope of the trial
The official Steam announcement page for Dead by Daylight, published on August 26, 2026, confirms the launch of Anti-Cheat Trials on September 2, the first Denuvo Anti-Cheat trial on PC, and the details concerning Steam, Steam Deck and Proton.
