Internal Microsoft documents mentioned a “current project” at Dead by Daylight developer, Behaviour Interactive. But what is Upforce Arena?
Update: Behaviour Interactive got back to us about the “promising” project billed as ‘Upforce Arena’ in its 2011 quarterly pipeline review document. “Unfortunately,” a representative from the developer said, “we can’t comment on this.”
Our original story follows…
The ongoing FTC-Microsoft courtroom battle has left gaming outlets like this one poring over a redacted internal document. A quarterly pipeline review dating from April 2021, it provides a snapshot of Microsoft’s inner workings around this time – including its plans to buy Sega, now seemingly dropped.
The same document also contains another interesting tidbit of information. Among the various companies and studios it lists and details is Behaviour Interactive, the Canadian firm behind multiplayer horror title, Dead by Daylight.
In a profile of the company, Microsoft’s document talks briefly about Behaviour’s history and releases, as well as some of the potential risks if Microsoft were to buy the studio. One line reads, “Unable to deliver on another strong OIP [Original Intellectual Property since Dead by Daylight”.
Then, in brackets, it adds, “however, company’s current project, ‘Upforce Arena’ looks promising.”
Credit: Microsoft.
This bit has us intrigued. A Google search of Upforce Arena reveals absolutely nothing connected to Behaviour Interactive. Whether it’s the proper name of a project or a working title, there’s no mention of it anywhere.
As far as the outside world is concerned, Behaviour Interactive has one game in the works: the upcoming Silent Hill Ascension, an “interactive streaming series” based on Konami’s long-running horror series. That project appears to be being led by Genvid Entertainment, with Behaviour Interactive being one of a couple of other studios also working on it, alongside dj2 Entertainment.
In a May 2023 interview with Polygon, Genvid CEO Jacob Navok said that Silent Hill Ascension was in “the earliest discussions” phase in 2021. If this is the case, it seems unlikely that Upforce Arena was some kind of codename for the “promising” project mentioned by Microsoft.
So what is Upforce Arena? Whatever it was, Microsoft appeared to be impressed by it. We’ve contacted Behaviour Interactive for comment, and will update this post if we get a response. (Update: “Unfortunately, we can’t comment on this,” a company rep wrote in response to our query.)
