TheBurntPeanut’s Dead By Daylight Giveaway Controversy Explained After Developer Issues Public Apology

TheBurntPeanut responds to accusations following his Dead by Daylight collaboration.© NDTV Library

Behaviour Interactive has apologised to the Dead by Daylight community after a team member handed Twitch streamer TheBurntPeanut free in-game content and currency during an October 30 livestream. The developer admitted the reward never got the approval it needed, and said its reply to complaints while the stream was still running was wrong as well. Players had questioned why a creator they accused of racist and transphobic behaviour was being rewarded at all. TheBurntPeanut pushed back on those accusations in another broadcast the next day. Behaviour has now started a review of its internal processes, and it also condemned threats aimed at its employees.

Some people on Twitter were not happy about TheBurntPeanut getting streamer privileges in Dead by Daylight https://t.co/wk5DsrRFeg

— yeet (@Awk20000) October 31, 2026

TheBurntPeanut Receives Every Dead by Daylight Character and Skin During Halloween Livestream

It all happened during a Halloween stream where TheBurntPeanut was playing with CoconutB and Cloakzy. Viewers told him to check his in-game mailbox, and that's where he found the game had unlocked its characters and skins for him. 

He joked about getting “streamer privileges.” The reaction online turned negative pretty fast. 

X user @EveElleQueen called out Behaviour for rewarding a creator they described as “homophobic and racist,” and asked why other creators who had spent years making Dead by Daylight content hadn't gotten similar recognition. 

Things got messier because the game's official Twitch account seemed to defend the giveaway right in stream chat. Its message read “WE CAN TAKE THE HEAT! THEY ARE YOURS TO KEEP,” and that reply got its own share of scrutiny.

This weekend, a Dead by Daylight team member awarded in-game content and currency to a creator streaming our game. Although it is not unusual to unlock content to give creators discovering DbD a chance to have a sneak peek at available content, this decision was made without receiving appropriate approvals. Furthermore, the team member's subsequent comments and conduct do not align with Dead by Daylight's core values. When concerns about this decision became apparent during the stream, we should have responded by looking into these concerns, not dismissing them. Unfortunately, we've now seen the fallout of this decision unfolding in many conversations across the DbD community. We appreciate and stand with our community's willingness to ensure our shared values are being upheld, at all times, regardless of popularity, and we're heartbroken at the inflammatory language now being directed towards our community. At the same time, threatening employees will never be acceptable, and we're asking everyone to stop engaging with these posts. We apologize to our community for letting you down. We have already begun reviewing our internal processes to prevent an incident like this from happening again.

— DbD Pulse (@DbDPulse) November 1, 2026

Dead by Daylight Admits Its Mistake and Apologises to Players Over the Creator Giveaway

Behaviour's November 1 statement confirmed that a team member had awarded the creator in-game content and currency. 

Creator unlocks, the studio said, can work as a preview of what's available, but this one “was made without receiving appropriate approvals.” The employee's later comments and conduct also didn't match the game's core values. 

On top of that, the studio said it should have looked into the complaints raised during the livestream rather than waving them off, and it took issue about the “inflammatory language” aimed at community members. 

Threats toward staff got a flat rejection: “Threatening employees will never be acceptable.” The apology went out to the community, and the review of internal processes is already underway.

TheBurntPeanut dealt with the accusations during October 31 stream. 

He brought up a player who had requested a refund and pointed to the giveaway and the game team's response as the reason, then rejected the claims himself: “I don't think I've ever said anything about transgender people, I think, in the last two and a half years of streaming.” 

Behaviour's statement, though, didn't name the employee, announce any disciplinary action, or say whether the items would be taken back from him. As of this writing, he hasn't publicly responded to the statement