Dead by Daylight has removed the ability for survivors to use a flashlight in order to rescue teammates who have been grabbed from the locker by the killer. This change, which was revealed in the Dead by Daylight Developer update post released at the end of October, is effective immediately.
When the killer in Dead by Daylight undergoes key actions, such as picking up a downed survivor or opening a locker, they are locked in an animation. During this time, players with a flashlight can blind the killer, who cannot move their character. When picking up survivors from the ground, killers can easily spin their character in the opposite direction to avoid any survivors lurking with a flashlight. However, when a killer grabs a survivor hiding inside a locker, they will always face towards the locker and have no possible way to avoid being stunned unless the survivor carrying the flashlight mistimes the blind.
Dead by Daylight's developers have addressed the recent exploitation of this game mechanic in their October 2022 Developer Update, remarking that "Some lockers are positioned in such a way that a clever Survivor can blind the Killer as they are grabbing another Survivor out of it. While cool in theory, there’s not a whole lot the Killer can do to counter this: Even if they do chase away the other Survivor waiting with a flashlight, the Survivor in the locker can take advantage of the distraction to make a break for it." Following these comments, Dead by Daylight's developers revealed that, effective immediately, killers will now receive blind immunity when grabbing a survivor from a locker, a change aimed to make the game less frustrating for those wanting to try out the killer role.
In recent months, more and more survivors have been weaponizing the locker save mechanic following its popularization by several content creators, with one survivor jumping inside the locker while others lurk nearby with flashlights. The resulting situation is one in which the locker-dwelling survivor is essentially untouchable, making this change a welcome addition for many killer players.
In recent months, statistics have emerged that Dead by Daylight is becoming a killer-sided game, with kill rates currently at the highest they have been in years following a massive set of buffs to all killers in patch 6.1.0. As a result, many players are unhappy that the game's developers are taking away another mechanic from the survivor side and are letting their voices be heard. However, unlike the aforementioned set of killer buffs, the removal of locker saves will go unnoticed by the majority of survivor players due to it not being a big part of the game, though it will surely be missed by those who found more fun in harassing the killer than in completing the game's primary objectives.
Dead by Daylight is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and mobile devices.