Behaviour Interactive, the studio behind Dead by Daylight, is working on a AAA sci-fi FPS

Behaviour Interactive, the Canadian studio that has spent years sustaining one of the world's most popular asymmetrical multiplayer games with Dead by Daylight, has a project in the works that nobody has announced yet: a sci-fi first-person shooter, AAA in scope and with a very ambitious visual direction. No trailer or showcase has confirmed it. The clue comes from a job listing posted by its Montreal office, as reported by Vandal.

Why does it matter? Because this is a team with real experience running a live-service game for years, complete with a competitive community, content creators and a culture of constant patches. If that same muscle carries over to a big-budget FPS, the genre could gain a competitor that understands what a demanding community expects. That said, for now it's all just hints, and it's wise to stay cautious.

What you need to know

• Behaviour Interactive is looking for a senior technical animator for its Montreal studio.
• The role is for an unannounced AAA title: a sci-fi FPS being developed in Unreal Engine.
• The listing emphasizes a high level of graphical realism.
• The candidate would play a key role in laying the technical foundations of the animation for the project, which suggests it's in early development.
• It's unclear whether this is an original IP or a collaboration with another company.

Context: beyond Dead by Daylight

Although Behaviour's name is almost always tied to Dead by Daylight, the studio has a much broader track record. It has worked on numerous titles, including the recent Serious Sam: Shatterverse, which shows it's no stranger to gunplay or first-person action. Nor is this its first flirtation with science fiction: Meet Your Maker, its game about building and raiding outposts, would seem to fit the description at first glance.

However, as Vandal notes, that theory doesn't hold up well: Meet Your Maker came out in 2023, while this listing is new and explicitly refers to a big-budget production. Everything points to a different project, possibly the most technically ambitious the studio has ever taken on. The big question is who's behind it. Behaviour has experience working as a support studio for third parties, so it wouldn't be surprising if this FPS turned out to be a work-for-hire project or a co-production with another publisher.

What the listing tells us (and what it doesn't)

The fact that they're hiring someone to establish the technical foundations of the animation indicates the game is still far from launch. Unreal Engine and realistic graphics aren't surprising either: that's the standard combination for today's AAA games. What the listing doesn't clarify is what interests us most: whether it will be multiplayer, whether it will have a competitive focus, or whether we're looking at a single-player campaign. Any claim along those lines would be pure speculation.

Our take

Here in the Underworld Lordz newsroom, we're viewing this move with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. Curiosity, because Behaviour knows what it means to nurture a community for years, listen to high-level players and coexist with streamers who make a living from its game. That kind of know-how is worth its weight in gold for an FPS. Skepticism, because the sci-fi shooter market is saturated and the AAA label no longer guarantees anything: we've seen too many big projects shut down their servers just a few months after launch.

We're also concerned that the focus, at least based on what has leaked, is on visual realism. For a competitive player, stunning graphics matter far less than solid netcode, good performance on modest hardware, consistent hitboxes and tools for organizing private matches and tournaments. If Behaviour wants its FPS to thrive in the competitive scene, it will have to prove that its technical ambition goes deeper than the surface.

For content creators, on the other hand, a visually striking game can be a great opportunity, as long as it ships with a decent spectator system and a design that creates memorable moments. We'll have to wait and see something playable before getting excited.

What do you think?

A studio seasoned in asymmetrical horror jumping into big-budget sci-fi FPS: it could be a huge surprise or just another attempt in a genre littered with casualties. Do you trust Behaviour to create a shooter that's truly competitive-grade, or do you think it should stay focused on Dead by Daylight? Let us know in the team chat or on our Discord.