Dead by Daylight Terrifier PTB: How to Access It on PC

Behaviour Interactive put the Terrifier chapter on Dead by Daylight's Steam-only Public Test Build on October 27, 2026, running as patch 10.3.0 (PTB). That means Art the Clown, the new Survivor Sienna Shaw, and a new map are all playable right now for anyone willing to flip a single switch in Steam. None of it is required reading if you'd rather wait for the full release, but if you want to test the new Killer's power before Behaviour finishes balancing it, here's exactly how to get in, what changes about your save while you're there, and which settings are worth double-checking before your first Trial.

01What's Actually in the Terrifier PTB Right Now

The headline addition is Art the Clown, built around a power called Bag of Toys. Instead of a single weapon, Art reaches into a trash bag and pulls out a random prop — a flail, a flamethrower, a handgun, a bottle of acid, or a bike horn — and each successful hit with a toy makes him more dangerous, eventually letting him down injured Survivors and finish them off with a toy-specific Mori. He also ships with three Killer perks: Funny Business (damaging a Generator grants a random effect plus a temporary haste buff), Kill Spree (lets him end the Trial by killing every remaining Survivor once all Generators are done and everyone has reached two Hook States), and Laughingstock (Survivors near a completed Generator become Exhausted and Oblivious).

On the Survivor side, Sienna Shaw arrives with Best Gift Ever, Shared Trauma, and Valkyrie's Rage, and the build adds a new map, the Hartshorne Mall, to the rotation. None of this is final — Behaviour has said the power, perks, and balance numbers can still change based on PTB feedback before the chapter's full release, which is confirmed only for a November 2026 window with no exact date announced yet.

The crossover itself leans fully into the Terrifier film trilogy's tone rather than softening it for a wider cast of licensed Killers — Art the Clown keeps his signature silence and his trash-bag arsenal rather than getting a generic reskin of an existing power. If horror-movie crossovers are what drew you to Dead by Daylight in the first place, this is the one chapter this cycle built specifically around that.

02Why Test a Build That Could Still Change

Everything in a PTB is explicitly unfinished. Behaviour uses these windows to collect player feedback on power strength, perk interactions, and bugs before locking numbers in for the full release — which is exactly why Kill Spree, Funny Business, and Laughingstock could all look different by the time Art the Clown reaches live servers in November. If you've got strong opinions on how a random-weapon Killer power should feel, this is the window where that feedback actually has a chance to change something, rather than arriving after the numbers are already final.

That also means you should go in expecting rough edges: unfinished VFX, placeholder balance, and the occasional crash are normal for any PTB and aren't a sign your own PC is misconfigured.

03How to Opt Into the Public Test Build on Steam

Getting into the PTB takes under a minute once Steam finishes the download, but it only works for one specific version of the game, and it downloads as a separate copy rather than patching your existing install — so make sure you have enough free disk space for a second full copy of Dead by Daylight before you start.

How to Join the Terrifier PTB on Steam

1. 1The Terrifier PTB is only available to players on the Steam version of Dead by Daylight. It excludes every other PC storefront and all consoles, so if your copy is on PlayStation, Xbox, or Epic Games Store, there's no PTB option to find.1 min
2. 2Fully exit the game, then open your Steam Library so Steam can change the build you're pointed at.1 min
3. 3Right-click Dead by Daylight in your Library list and select Properties from the menu.1 min
4. 4In the Properties window, open the Betas tab and choose public-test from the drop-down menu. Steam will immediately start downloading the PTB as a separate copy of the game.1 min
5. 5Depending on your connection, the separate PTB download can take anywhere from a few minutes to longer, since it isn't a small patch layered on your existing install.5-20 min
6. 6Once it's done, Dead by Daylight shows [public-test] next to its name in your Library. Launch it, then check your graphics, keybind, and audio settings before queuing your first Trial.2 min

04What Carries Over to the PTB — and What Doesn't

The PTB doesn't share a save with your live account, so don't expect your current Prestige levels, Bloodpoints, or unlocked cosmetics to show up. Instead, every PTB account is copied from a snapshot of the live servers taken roughly a week before the build opens, then boosted so testers can actually reach the new content without a grind:

• Every Killer and Survivor you've unlocked through Steam carries over, and any new character releasing with the chapter is unlocked automatically for everyone.
• Characters you only own through a non-Steam store stay locked, though you're given enough in-build currency to buy them anyway.
• Each character is set to Level 50, Prestige 3, with every perk already unlocked at Tier III.
• Offerings, items, and add-ons are pre-loaded at 99 units each, and you start with 12,500 Auric Cells and 1,000,000 Bloodpoints to spend inside the test build only.

None of this — the currency, the Prestige levels, the purchases — moves back to your live account when the PTB closes. Treat it as a separate copy of the game that happens to share your Steam login.

05Settings Worth Checking Before Your First PTB Match

Because the PTB is a fresh install sitting alongside your normal game, it won't inherit your live client's video or control settings. A few things are worth looking at the moment you load in rather than mid-Trial:

• Graphics quality and resolution reset to their defaults on a new install, so if you normally run a custom resolution scale or a specific frame-rate cap for a smoother chase, reapply it from the in-game Graphics menu before you queue.
• Keybinds and controller mappings also start from scratch. If you use a non-default layout for vaulting, flashlight clicks, or Killer power activation, set it again under Options > Controls.
• Voice chat and proximity audio toggles are separate from your live settings too, which matters if you're testing with friends and want to hear Art's new emotes and toy sound cues clearly.

None of this is Terrifier-specific — it's just the cost of the PTB being its own standalone client rather than a patch layered on top of your existing one. It's also worth keeping your expectations realistic about matchmaking: a PTB pulls from a far smaller player pool than the live game, so queue times for either role — especially Killer, if the server is short on testers willing to play Art — can run longer than you're used to, particularly outside peak hours.

06What to Expect From Art the Clown and Sienna Shaw

Bag of Toys plays nothing like a conventional Killer weapon. Because the prop you pull is random, every chase forces a different read: a flamethrower rewards closing distance and holding an angle, while the acid bottle and bike horn behave more like utility tools than straight damage. The power escalates over the course of a Trial — early toy hits build toward the point where Art can execute a downed Survivor outright with that toy's unique Mori, so expect the threat level in each match to ramp up the longer it runs, which is a different rhythm than most of Dead by Daylight's current roster.

Sienna Shaw's kit leans into protection plays and chase recovery rather than stealth. Shared Trauma rewards taking a hit for a teammate by clearing Exhaustion for everyone nearby who's running, Valkyrie's Rage turns a successful chase escape into an unusually strong pallet stun, and Best Gift Ever rewards dropping items for passive buffs rather than hoarding them. If you're testing with a full Survivor squad, that combination favors coordinated, somewhat aggressive play over solo stealth runs.

07How to Leave the PTB and Return to Live

Whenever you're done testing, go back to the same Betas tab in Steam's Properties window and choose "NONE - Opt out of all beta programs" from the drop-down instead of public-test. Steam will download and reinstall the live build, and your actual account — the one with your real Prestige, cosmetics, and Bloodpoints — is exactly where you left it, since the PTB never touched it in the first place.

If a second PTB wave or hotfix follows before the full November launch, Behaviour typically announces it through the game's official channels and the BHVR forums' PTB knowledge-base article, which is also the best place to confirm whether a given test build is currently live before you go looking for the Betas option that won't appear.