My Dead by Daylight Chapter 22.5 PTB Memories: A January 2022 Flashback

It’s January 2026, and as I boot up Dead By Daylight for another trial in the Fog, I can’t help but smile at how far this asymmetric survival horror has come. Four years have passed since the Chapter 22.5 mid-chapter update hit the Player Test Build—and yet, that cold Wednesday morning of January 5th, 2022, remains etched in my memory like a hatch escape at the very last second.

Back then, the community was buzzing with speculation. Behaviour Interactive had just confirmed the PTB arrival, and I was one of those Steam devotees who couldn’t wait to dive into the early build. The official word was that the full release was still about three weeks out, but the Player Test Build was our golden ticket to taste new balance changes, bug fixes, and—most tantalizing of all—brand-new cosmetics. LeaksDBD had already teased some of the outfits, and I remember scrolling through their post with a mixture of awe and impatience.

That Frantic Wednesday Morning

8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 4 PM GMT. The countdown was real. I was on the East Coast, so 11 AM felt like an eternity. With a mug of coffee in hand, I sat refreshing the Behaviour forums until the switch flipped. As soon as the branch went live, I was already deep into the opting-in process.

If you’ve never done it, let me walk you through the ritual I perfected that day:

1. Close Dead by Daylight entirely. (No, alt-tabbing won’t cut it.)

2. Right-click the game in your Steam Library and open Properties.

3. Click the Betas tab, then choose public-test from the dropdown.

4. Restart Steam just to be safe—it forces the UI to update and triggers the download.

The download itself wasn’t massive, but every progress bar pixel felt like a repair generator in front of a Tier 3 Myers. Once the green “PLAY” button lit up, I was ready to enter the Fog’s experimental realm.

First Steps Into the Mid-Chapter PTB

The Chapter 22.5 PTB wasn’t just a coat of paint; it was a mid-chapter rebalance that aimed to shake up the meta. Survivors and Killers alike were getting tweaks—some subtle, some brutal. I queued up as my main, a Killer, eager to test if the pallet vacuums had been adjusted as rumored. The early matches were pure chaos, and I adored it.

The real stars, though, were the cosmetics. New outfits for several characters had been datamined, and now I could see them for myself. I still remember equipping a special headpiece on my survivor that felt like a trophy from the fog itself. Those early PTB lobbies were a fashion show of rare unlocks and unreleased styles. Players would spin in the pre-game campfire to show off, and I’d often send a friendly nod via a quick teabag or bell ring.

Stories from the Fog: PTB Edition

What made that PTB unforgettable wasn’t just the content—it was the stories. I recall a trial on the Macmillan Estate where a bug (later patched) let survivors crawl at double speed through the exit gate. We all burst into laughter in the post-game chat. Another match had a Nurse player who discovered a new blink trajectory glitch; instead of exploiting it, she used it to taxi survivors to hooks in the most stylish possible way. The test build felt like a creative sandbox where the rules were still being written.

My friend Jake—a dedicated ace in the Entity’s realm—and I spent hours testing perk synergies. We uncovered that one of the reworked perks had an unintended interaction with a new addon, making heal speeds borderline instant. We reported it on the official forums, feeling like true beta-testing veterans. There’s a special camaraderie that forms when you’re part of a PTB community; everyone is a detective, a critic, and a guinea pig all at once.

Opting Out and Waiting for the Real Thing

After nearly a week of testing, the novelty started to fade—partly because the test build had limited matchmaking times and partly because I missed my full collection of unlockables. Opting out was the reverse of the opt-in: close the game, return to the Betas tab, select NONE - Opt out of all beta programs, and restart Steam. The game rolled back, and suddenly I was back in the stable live branch, missing those experimental quirks.

The full Chapter 22.5 release came roughly three weeks later, and by then, many of the PTB’s rough edges had been smoothed. The leaked cosmetics turned into official store additions, and the balance changes had been refined based on our feedback. It was one of those moments where the player base felt truly heard.

Looking Back from 2026

Now, in 2026, Dead By Daylight has evolved with more chapters, crossovers, and engine updates. Yet, whenever a new PTB announcement drops, I still get that same jolt of excitement. The process hasn’t changed much: right-click, Betas, public-test, restart. It’s a comforting ritual that connects me to the old days. The Chapter 22.5 PTB taught me that the Fog is always shifting, and stepping into an early build is like peeking behind the Entity’s curtain.

If you ever get the chance to try a PTB, don’t hesitate. Embrace the bugs, celebrate the early cosmetics, and be part of the feedback loop that shapes the game we love. Who knows? Four years from now, you might be reminiscing about today’s test build with the same fondness I hold for a frosty January morning in 2022.

See you in the Fog, old sport—may your skill checks be great, and your hatch always appear when you need it most. 🕯️🔪