Hellraiser's Pinhead is leaving Dead by Daylight, and fans have some questions.
The beloved online multiplayer game has become a vertible who's who of horror icons, with some of the best and brightest scare-fest villains joining the game's cast over the years alongside its roster of original monsters.
One of these playable monstrosities is the Cenobite (aka Pinhead) from Hellraiser, who has been a part of the game since September 2021.
Why Is Hellraiser's Cenobite Pinhead Leaving DBD?
The Dead by Daylight development team, Behaviour Interactive, announced that Hellraiser's Pinhead character would be leaving the hit online game.
A post on Dead by Daylight's official X account revealed that the DLC character, who has been available as an a la carte purchase for players for over four years, will be leaving the game on Friday, April 4.
"The Cenobite has brought Survivors both pleasure and pain for almost four years now," the dev team shared online, writing that "it's time for The Hellraiser Chapter to leave the store on April 4th, 2025:"
"The Cenobite has brought Survivors both pleasure and pain for almost four years now, but it's time for The 'Hellraiser' Chapter to leave the store on April 4th 2025. Any of the Chapter content unlocked before that date will remain available to use in-game."
This comes with the Hellraiser content being taken off most first-party stores starting on Tuesday, March 4. It is still available on the Dead by Daylight in-game store as well as the Nintendo Switch eShop (where it will remain until Thursday, March 13).
Until the Pinhead character is removed on April 4, Behaviour Interactive is offering the Hellraiser content and all its themed cosmetic items at a reduced 50% off price.
A specific reason for the character leaving the game has not been given; however, Behvaiour did share in a blog post announcing the news, "As with all Live-Service Games, frequent updates and additions are to be expected:"
"As with all Live-Service Games, frequent updates and additions are to be expected. With The Cenobite, our focus continues to be ensuring the character’s legacy within our games for fans who have unlocked him or plan to do so before April 4th, 11am ET."
This caused fans to theorize madly among themselves, pondering why exactly the Hellraiser content is getting delisted four years after it came to the multiplayer title.
Some speculated this change is being made because of an expiration of the licensing agreement between Behaviour Interactive and the Hellraiser rightsholders, and that (while unconfirmed) seems likely.
Entire games have been taken offline, thanks to the passing around of these horror franchise rights over the years. Notably, Illfonic's Friday the 13th multiplayer game was delisted at the end of 2023 and taken offline due to the license expiring.
That is the delicate dance these developers play in working largely with licensed IP, as they are at the beck and call of these rightsholders and whatever licensing agreements are signed.
It is something that is seen all the time as well in the world of TV/movie streaming, as things come and go from various platforms when agreements expire and are renewed or not.
While fans await The Cenobite's Dead by Daylight departure, there have also been theories swirling about how Behaviour Interactive will justify the character leaving from an in-canon perspective.
Something that has made Dead by Daylight unique with its crossover partnerships is that they all come with their own in-canon reason for appearing in the game.
One popular theory is that Pinhead leaving the game will be depicted in the Dead by Daylight lore as being forced to travel back to Hell, exacerbated by the game's devious Entity and his use of survivors as a waste of good suffering.
Dead by Daylight is now available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile.
