The team that brought us sexy Colonel Sanders is working on a Dead by Daylight dating sim

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Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical multiplayer game about torture, murder, and unspeakable savagery and horror. But later this year it will experiment with a softer side of its persona in Hooked On You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim, which will let players frolic with four dead-sexy psycho killers on the tropical paradise of Murderer's Island.

For the record, this is not a joke. Behaviour Interactive describes Hooked on You as "the very first Dead by Daylight visual novel," in which players will flirt with the Huntress, the Spirit, the Trapper, and the Wraith—no licensed characters here, understandably—and come to know their sweeter, more sensitive sides. But while love may be in the air, it sounds like copious blood spray remains a distinct possibility too.

"Will [players] find true love, forge friendships, or get hacked to death? Only they can decide," Behaviour Interactive said. "As mystery unfolds, it’s their job to make sense of it all. What brought them here? Where did these Killers come from? Why do they show so much interest? And, most importantly, if only one had to be chosen for love... who would it be?"

I'll be honest, I feel like a round of Kiss/Marry/Kill wouldn't be my number-one priority if I was trapped on an island of lunatic killers, but I'm also not really a fan of visual novels so it's possible I'm just not properly into the spirit of the thing.

While the game itself might not be a joke, it sounds like its origins may be. Behaviour Interactive said the decision to make Hooked On You arose from a survey of fans, who in the finest tradition of Boaty McBoatface said that what they really wanted from Dead by Daylight was a dating sim. I won't go so far as to say that Behaviour Interactive called their bluff, but here we are.

Hooked On You is being developed by Psyop, the team that previously brought us I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator. In a normal world that sort of reference might come off as a bit of side-eye at the very least, but to our surprise the sexy colonel turned out to be quite good, even though poor Fraser failed to dip his nuggets, if you know what I mean. It's short, as you'd expect from what is at its core a novelty advertisement for fried chicken, "but it still manages to replicate the dating sim formula incredibly well," which bodes well for Hooked On You, as silly as the underlying idea may be.

Hooked On You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim will be out this summer on Steam, and if that sounds like your cup of stuff you can find out more at hookedonyoudbd.com. And speaking of cups of stuff, here's one you can blow up to poster size and hang on your wall while you wait.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.