Dead by Daylight’s New Survivor Is A Milestone For Native Gaming

Behaviour Interactive introduced Shane “Giiwewigaabaw” Wiigwaas to Dead by Daylight on June 25 as part of Chapter 40.5: The Life Road, marking the first Indigenous survivor in the game after almost ten years and more than forty chapters.

Shane is from the fictional Glass River First Nation and grew up believing that justice wasn’t about punishment but about restoring balance, a conviction that led him to become a defense attorney representing First Nation clients and others in need. His path into The Fog begins when his cousin Derek is accused of killing a police officer, and insists the officer disappeared into a strange black cloud. Shane pressures him to take a plea deal. Derek refuses, receives a life sentence, and Shane sets off on his motorcycle looking for answers about the fog that ruined his cousin’s life.

Dallas Goldtooth, a Mdewakanton Dakota and Diné actor, comedian, writer, and activist, lends his voice to bring Shane to life. Goldtooth is well-known within NDN Country; some might say he’s everyone’s favorite uncle. However, most gamers will recognize him from FX’s Reservation Dogs and Amazon’s Fallout, which really makes his casting on point, because Dallas is known for his character work and ability to breathe complexity and humor into unforgettable characters you root for, meme, and quote.

Behaviour brought Anishinaabe and Onyota’a:ká: woodland-style artist Tehatsistahawi “Tsista” Kennedy, also known as Hotdog Water Art, into the chapter’s key art. Kennedy belongs to Beausoleil First Nation and Oneida Nation of the Thames, and works primarily in digital art, with birch bark etching and loom beading also part of his practice. His work often draws on pop culture, humor, stories, land, irony, political commentary, and the traditional aspects of his Anishinaabe and Onyota’a:ká: identity.

Shane’s in-game cosmetics extend his characterization through clothing tied to his story. The Life Road Collection includes the “Rare Law School Nights” outfit, featuring a hoodie, joggers, and colored braid wraps that reflect his time as a law student, as well as the “Very Rare Woodland Regalia” outfit. Behaviour Associate Art Director Sarah Robinson said the team wanted the cosmetics to help Shane “proudly reps his Anishinaabe community and heritage.”

The significance of Shane’s introduction into Dead by Daylight goes beyond a new addition to the survivor roster. Native characters remain among the most underrepresented groups in mainstream games. A 2010 academic analysis of the 150 bestselling U.S. video games found that Native Americans were the most underrepresented segment of society and appeared only as secondary characters, a finding earlier research from the University of Southern California’s 2009 “Virtual Census” reached as well. Industry demographics have not caught up either. An International Game Developers Association survey found that more than 83 percent of game developers identify as caucasian, while only 4 percent identify as Aboriginal or Indigenous. In the United States, Native Americans make up about 1.7 percent of the population but account for only 0.42 percent of the high-tech industry, according to federal data cited by researchers at Concordia University’s Initiative for Indigenous Futures. Broader consumer research, including surveys from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, has found that over 70 percent of respondents consider diverse characters important in games.

Against those numbers, Shane Wiigwaas is more than a new survivor entering The Fog. His arrival marks a long-overdue correction in a genre and industry that have too often left Native people out, reduced us to shallow tropes, or left us in the background. In a game with more than 60 million players worldwide, Dead by Daylight: The Life Road gives Native players something still far too rare in mainstream gaming: a Native character with a name, a Nation, a family, a career, a story, and a reason to survive. Shane does not fix the industry’s representation problem, but he does raise the standard. Native characters deserve more than visibility. We deserve care, collaboration, specificity, and stories built with us, not around us.