The asymmetrical multiplayer horror gameDead By Daylightis no stranger to movie, television, and other video game tie-ins. Players can don the mask of Ghostface, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and more or run for their lives asStranger Things' Steve Harrington or Nancy Wheeler if they please. One iconic film figure, however, needs no role to play to take on the supernatural Entity -Nicolas Cage. At Summer Game Fest, the beloved actor known for everything fromFace/OfftoNational Treasurewas officially introduced as the latest playable survivor in a new trailer where he evades the game’s many terrifying killers and guides his fellow potential victims to safety.
Cage provides all the voice acting for his in-game counterpart which, not unlikeThe Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, is a heightened version of the beloved actor with skills “inspired by acting and the idea of getting into a role.” He’s been tricked into thinking he’s filming a movie out in the woods and wakes up amidst the Fog of The Entity’s domain, surrounded by the most terrifying serial killers horror has to offer. It’s a scenario that Cage finds more “amusing” than horrifying. It marks the first time an actual real-life celebrity has been brought into the game, but there’s hardly a better choice than Cage who has no shortage of horror experience betweenthe so bad it’s goodThe Wicker Man, indie darlingsMandyandWilly’s Wonderland, and, most recently,2023’s horror comedyRenfieldwhere he playedthe most famous vampire around, Dracula.
InDead By Daylight, four players take on the role of survivors trapped in the supernatural realm of The Entity, a nightmarish spider-like creature that feeds on the victims. Trapped in the Fog with them is a killer which a fifth player takes control of whose only goal is to stalk, attack, and sacrifice the survivors to The Entity before they can activate enough generators across the map to escape. As the game has continued to garner a massive following, it’s become theSuper Smash Bros.of horror with franchises fromA Nightmare on Elm StreetandSawtoResident Eviltaking part in the carnage. The game has its fair share of original ghouls too with demented doctors, K-Pop stars, clowns, and gunslingers among its roster.
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Video Games Were the Next Logical Step for Cage
In addition to the trailer, Cagejoined Summer Game Fest hostGeoff Keighleyon stageto discuss his turn to video games. The actor has takenhis fair share of creative leapsin recent years, and it felt like the next step was for him to make an appearance in a game. He told Keighley that part of the reason he didn’t hesitate to joinDead By Daylightwas because of its status as a sort of “museum of horror” and he’s specifically excited to be part of the same titleSadako fromRingu. On a more serious note, he also appreciated the collaborative bonding experience of working together with fellow survivors to escape and, as someone with a family member who adores the game, he was eager to branch out into a new medium.
Regarding the experience of voicing Nic Cage, he assured the audience that he gave it his all:
“See, I want you to know when you’re playing the Nic Cage survivor, I even have when you’re choosing your skins, I even say ‘always remember to dress to match your talent,” I want you know that you’re with me, that we’re one, we’re fused. And so it was important to me that everything I do, everything I say from the scream to the grunt, down to the most minimal exasperated expression of a sigh, whatever it is that it’s my voice so we’re fused."
Behaviour Interactive will share more information on Cage’s addition toDead By Daylighton July 5. He’ll enter the Fog on PC and consoles on July 25. Check out the teaser below.
