Dead by Daylight Jumps to Positive Ratings After Steam Hides ‘Off-Topic’ Reviews Following BurntPeanut Backlash

Dead by Daylight has returned to “Mostly Positive” recent reviews on Steam after Valve excluded reviews from 1 to 6 November that it classified as off-topic. The ratings had fallen amid backlash against developer Behaviour Interactive’s work with streamer TheBurntPeanut, and the change has renewed debate about whether the negative reviews fairly reflected players’ views.

Valve’s notice says reviews in the affected period are excluded from the score by default because it considers them largely unrelated to whether customers would enjoy the game; users can opt to include them, which changes the rating to “Mixed”. Valve’s process investigates unusual review activity without determining its cause, though how it has changed since a 2019 explanation is unclear. Behaviour said it could not discuss platform review processes, but confirmed it had removed gifted content from TheBurntPeanut’s account and would take appropriate action over the incident.