One of the fan-favorite killers in Dead by Daylight is none other than Leatherface, a villain from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that was licensed for the game as DLC. While he’s been part of the game for years now without much trouble, it seems that the developers are now tweaking the character. Specifically, they’re removing an ability that once allowed Leatherface to switch out his mask with the faces of the game’s survivors. Because one of the survivors, Claudette, is a black woman, it meant that one of the Leatherface masks was black. As such, it appears that toxic players were using this Leatherface mask as Blackface to harass other players.
Overall, Leatherface has four masks to choose from once they’re unlocked. These include the faces of survivors Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Dwight Fairfield, and Jake Park. Players acquired these by sacrificing each respective survivor 25 times. This would have to be performed with each survivor for a total of 100 times in order to acquire all the faces. And while it wasn’t Claudette’s face that was specifically noted as the issue, it’s been strongly hinted to be the reason. Especially because some video game players already thought that the Leatherface mask based on Claudette should’ve been considered racist or a form of Blackface.
Here’s the official statement released by Behaviour Interactive, via the official forum:
“For those who may not know, The Cannibal can unlock the faces of the four original Survivors by sacrificing them 25 times.
Members of the community have shared their experiences with people targeting and harassing them while using some of these masks. These reports were disheartening to hear, and we absolutely condemn this behaviour. We are not comfortable having these masks in the game when they are used as a tool to spread hate. To that end, we will be removing The Cannibal’s unlockable faces in this upcoming Mid-Chapter.
Anyone who has ever played The Cannibal by the release of the Mid-Chapter update will be awarded 6,000 Iridescent Shards to compensate for their removal.
We will not tolerate hateful activity and will continue to take every step necessary to protect the community.”
Dead by Daylight Senior Character Artist Eric Bourdages, who designed the masks, also supports this decision. As he wrote on his Twitter account:
“As the artist who made the bubba masks, I’m glad they are being removed. As cool as it would have been to have an easter egg for all survivors. The reality of it is there were many players using them in harmful ways. Gamers, no matter the game please treat others with respect.”
As the artist who made the bubba masks, I’m glad they are being removed. As cool as it would have been to have an easter egg for all survivors. The reality of it is there were many players using them in harmful ways. Gamers, no matter the game please treat others with respect.
— Eric Bourdages (@EZE3D) January 4, 2022
Regardless of being used for Blackface or not, it looks like the face-swapping ability for horror icon Leatherface is going away for good.