Dead by Daylight’s Sadako Rising Still Haunts Screens Four Years Later

The year is 2026, and yet Behaviour Interactive’s asymmetric horror playground Dead by Daylight still finds new ways to make players jump out of their chairs. Looking back, few chapters have burrowed into the collective psyche quite like Sadako Rising — that spine-chilling marriage of Japanese folklore and multiplayer mayhem that dropped in March 2022. Even now, whenever a television flickers to static mid-match, survivors instinctively scatter and killers crack a knowing smile. Oh yeah, the Onryō hasn't lost a step.

It’s been over four years since the cursed videotape found its way into the Entity’s realm, and somehow the horror still feels fresh. The release date — March 8, 2022 — is practically a holiday among fans who remember when the Dead by Daylight team first teased the crossover way back in December 2021. The trailer alone was a masterclass in dread: a well, a flickering screen, and then a ghostly figure dragging herself out of a television with that bone-cracking grace only Sadako can deliver. Behaviour didn't just add a killer; they bottled that iconic scene from the 1998 film Ringu and let it loose on terrified survivors.

Let’s set the scene for anyone who’s been living under a rock — or, more fittingly, hiding in a locker. Dead by Daylight pits four survivors against one killer in a grim game of cat-and-mouse. Fix five generators, power the exit gates, and don’t end up a sacrifice to the Entity. Since 2016, the roster has swollen with horror legends: Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Pinhead, the pig-masked Amanda Young from Saw, and the literally unstoppable Nemesis from Resident Evil. When Behaviour first hinted at a collaboration with the Ringu franchise, the community went into a frenzy. After all, Sadako Yamamura — often called the Onryō in-game — basically invented the “crawling out of a screen” trope that modern horror can’t stop borrowing.

The Sadako Rising chapter didn’t just drop a killer on us; it also introduced Yoichi Asakawa as a playable survivor. Remember that brave kid from the 1998 film who survived his cursed encounter? Well, in the Entity’s realm he’s all grown up, sporting a quiet determination that makes him one of the more understated survivors. Players who main Yoichi tend to be the type who prefer outsmarting the killer over looping them for five minutes — delicate, strategic, and always keeping an eye on the nearest TV set. Because here’s the kicker: the Onryō can project herself right out of televisions scattered across the map.

Yes, you read that right. In a stroke of interactive genius, Behaviour scattered functional TVs around every trial map. Sadako can teleport between them, phasing in and out of existence like a curse with bad reception. If a survivor stands too close to a television for too long, they start accumulating a stacking debuff called “Condemned.” Once fully condemned, the killer can just... eliminate them outright. No hooks, no theatrics — just a swift, supernatural execution that makes teammates gasp over voice chat. It’s the kind of ability that rewards the killer for being a patient poltergeist, and punishes survivors for treating the Trial Grounds like a relaxing stroll.

A lot has changed since 2022 — new chapters, reworks, a whole meta shake-up — but the Onryō’s basic toolkit remains disturbingly effective. Few killers can control the map’s flow so silently. Survivors who ignore TVs quickly find themselves in a world of hurt, while those who obsessively turn them off waste precious generator time. It’s a mental war, and Sadako wins it without ever saying a word.

Behaviour’s approach to horror icons has always been careful, almost reverent. When they added Resident Evil veterans Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy alongside the Nemesis, the team made sure every detail — from Leon’s roundhouse kick to Jill’s lockpicking skills — felt ripped straight from the source material. The same love went into Sadako Rising. Her broken, jerky movements, the static-filled lullaby that warns of her approach, even the way her hair drapes over one eye — it’s all a masterclass in fidelity to the 1998 classic.

Here’s a little insider’s chuckle for you: Behaviour reportedly had to tweak the TV teleportation mechanic several times because playtesters kept screaming when Sadako emerged right behind them. Not in-game screams — actual, real-life yelps that startled the QA team. That’s when you know you’ve hit horror gold.

Now, four years after its debut, Sadako Rising sits comfortably alongside the other heavyweight crossovers. But its influence extends beyond just another killer on the selection screen. It proved that subtle, psychological horror could thrive in a game often dominated by chainsaws and bear traps. The Onryō didn’t need a massive weapon or a lunge attack — she just needed to remind everyone that technology can be terrifying. And in 2026, with smart homes and ever-present screens, that message lands harder than ever.

So the next time you queue up for a match and hear the crackle of static, spare a thought for poor Sadako. She just wants to crawl out of her TV and make some friends. Unfortunately, survivors keep running away. Yikes. 😬

Feature	Detail
Chapter Name	Sadako Rising
Killer	The Onryō (Sadako Yamamura)
Survivor	Yoichi Asakawa
Release Date	March 8, 2022
Core Ability	TV teleportation and Condemned Mori
Iconic Trait	Crawls out of televisions

Whether you’re a fog-bitten veteran or a baby survivor still figuring out skill checks, one thing’s for sure:

You don’t want to be the one standing too close to the screen.