Ice Nine Kills are taking their love of horror into another dimension, saluting horror video games with Dead By Daylight collaboration Play Dead.
The song was written for Dead By Daylight’s tenth anniversary and was announced on their anniversary livestream. It’s the latest single in what’s been a collab-heavy year for INK, who have also provided songs for the soundtracks of Scream 7 and Ready Or Not Here: I Come in the form of Twisting The Knife and Hell Or High Slaughter (Grave Diggler 2) respectively.
“Ice Nine Kills has always lived somewhere between menace and mischief. Play Dead, our take on Dead by Daylight, is a collision of hooks, horror, and total chaos,” explains vocalist Spencer Charnas. “As lifelong horror fans, we find it surreal and an absolute honour to have Ice Nine Kills’ music officially tied to Terrifier, Scream, Ready or Not, and now, the iconic survival horror game Dead by Daylight.
“Collaborating with Dead by Daylight gave us the chance to step into a world that feels deeply aligned with our creative instincts. The game has an incredible legacy, and that chaotic, eerie, immersive energy is something we respect and admire. We wanted the song to feel like a real extension of that universe, not just inspired by it, but genuinely part of it.
“We worked closely with longtime composer Michel F. April to ensure every detail, from the atmosphere to the intensity, felt true to the game, and we spent time on set with Dead by Daylight creatives Mathieu Cote and Eric Pope, as well as player experts like SpookyLoopz.
Spencer continues: “The video also features iconic genre star Devon Sawa. He’s one of my favorite actors, from Idle Hands and Final Destination to literally playing Stan in the Eminem video. And we’ve got Krsy Fox, one of the new modern horror scream queens, who not only had a showstopping performance in Terrifier 3, but is a kickass indie horror film producer, too.
“Having Tony Hawk appear with us felt essential because he isn’t just the Michael Jordan of skateboarding. He’s synonymous with the marriage of music, gaming, and subculture. We bonded over the same offbeat pop-culture touchstones, from punk rock to the irreverent ’80s comedies like The Naked Gun that shaped my brain just as much as horror did.
“And of course, Dingbar Tarbani slithered in to make things even stranger.”
Check it out below: