Internal Microsoft documents mentioned a ācurrent projectā at Dead by Daylight developer, Behaviour Interactive. But what is Upforce Arena?
Update: Behaviour Interactive got back to us about the āpromisingā project billed as āUpforce Arenaā in its 2011 quarterly pipeline review document. āUnfortunately,ā a representative from the developer said, āwe canāt comment on this.ā
Our original story followsā¦
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 Microsoftās inner workings around this time ā 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, Microsoftās document talks briefly about Behaviourās history and releases, as well as some of the potential risks if Microsoft were to buy the studio. One line reads, āUnable to deliver on another strong OIP [Original Intellectual Property since Dead by Daylightā.
Then, in brackets, it adds, āhowever, companyās current project, āUpforce Arenaā looks promising.ā
Credit: Microsoft.
This bit has us intrigued. A Google search of Upforce Arena reveals absolutely nothing connected to Behaviour Interactive. Whether itās the proper name of a project or a working title, thereās 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 āinteractive streaming seriesā based on Konamiās 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 āthe earliest discussionsā phase in 2021. If this is the case, it seems unlikely that Upforce Arena was some kind of codename for the āpromisingā project mentioned by Microsoft.
So what is Upforce Arena? Whatever it was, Microsoft appeared to be impressed by it. Weāve contacted Behaviour Interactive for comment, and will update this post if we get a response. (Update: āUnfortunately, we canāt comment on this,ā a company rep wrote in response to our query.)
