Interview: Author Paul Davies on Artbooks and 'The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight'
- Jul 20
- 7 min read
July 20th 2026
The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight is arriving August 25th to celebrate the hugely popular online horror game from Behaviour Interactive. Ahead of its release, I spoke to Paul Davies, the author of this volume and many other artbooks, about the work that he does and his time diving into Dead by Daylight.
Paul has been a part of many books in the collection here, so it was fantastic to find out more about him and learn more about the world of artbooks. Enjoy the interview below!
Hi Paul, thanks for speaking with me about the work you do and the upcoming book, The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight! You’re an author for many video game artbooks, but I imagine that’s more than just doing a bit of writing at a desk. Could you explain what is involved in your role as an author?
Paul Davies: My aim is to shine the brightest light on the unique talent and organisation behind the extraordinary artistry. Often, I will be familiar with the title, occasionally I’m a diehard fan, but the inner workings are a mystery each time. I make sure to research the career background of every person named as a contact, reading blogs, watching talks and interviews, how they enjoy sharing their work, over time, sometimes years – a Creative Director might’ve started out moons ago as junior designer or department assistant.
PD: Usually, the book publisher assigns an editor to help with planning and agree concept before I get involved. With Spider-Man and Black Flag, the entire book was laid out, and it was my responsibility to quiz artists on their intentions, which might involve turning pages together and looking into the tiny details. With MARVEL and What If…? I was allocated strict 30-minute video calls to consider a wider selection of imagery that would help to tell the story of how the project came together. And around that build my copy to shape the chapters. For Dead by Daylight we wanted to show an evolution of an idea in response to a rapidly growing community, and how the people at Behaviour, through close-knit teams and wider studio involvement, made it feel so personal.
Every book is different, but each one allows artists to express their true voice. There’s a lot of transcribing and editing and responding to changes along the way, sometimes it’s the art, sometimes a turn of phrase, or feedback on how to stay within brand – can’t be flippant or off-hand when representing characters and meaning within their worlds.
The books can be produced within months, but it has also taken years. For the latter, the challenge is to hold onto the original excitement and keep voice and tone consistent. There are many ‘eyes on’ with these projects promoting lively discussion. Always a relief when ‘final and approved’.
No job is the same then! You have worked on different types of books within video games, how did that begin and was it always the goal?
PD: This started with my passion for Halo, and a friend that I knew – Oz Browne – at Titan Books. I (more or less) said ‘please let me have at Halo!’ and Oz said he could only ask. Next came Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider and so on. I became a trusted author and was always happy to write the next in line. Prior to all this I had a background in games journalism, editing UK magazines and a website. I spent a year in games development, at Criterion, but returned to editorial with my old publisher. Founded an agency, with Xbox and Yahoo as clients, which involved attending events that helped build contacts. My career has been mostly videogames, but lately I’m more involved with consultancy. In terms of goals – only to build a reputation for a knowledgeable and trustworthy voice.
The artbooks keep coming which is great in this age of everything going digital. How do you get attached to the different books for the many developers and publishers releasing them?
PD: This depends on the publisher and their client. With Disney, the team there assign authors that they know would be best for the franchise, and these might be at the request of the studio. So, it can be word of mouth or on publisher recommendation.
I’ve worked across several book publishers for which there is no guarantee of a return, but being kept ‘first in mind’ for suitable projects is the position I tend to be in. I try to do good work and get invited back, reminding editors of my availability if it goes quiet.
The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight is being released on August 25th to celebrate the long running horror game. I’m curious to know how long ago you began working on the book and what the first stage for you was?
PD: We started early 2025 and everything was coordinated through one person at Behaviour who had a wonderful rapport with everyone involved, managing their valuable time. Interviews took place through the summer and writing into the autumn. The preparation was extremely efficiently handled, and it meant that we got to hold great conversations.
These interviews with the team are featured alongside the artwork with details of the game’s development. How much access did you get with Behaviour Interactive and what was that like?
PD: Everyone at Behaviour Interactive was generous with their time and showed great personal interest in how the book would turn out. If a conversation opened another avenue for discussion, my contact their would plan more rounds of interviews. I did not have direct access, but the response time and resulting organization was tailored to my needs. The energy and level of commitment from Behaviour’s side was always amazing.
Different artbooks include varying levels of written details, what was the approach to The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight?
PD: As I mentioned earlier, the approach for Dead by Daylight was always to tell the story behind every intention and resulting outcome by design or sometimes accident. But always about refining the experience across the years, which we divided evenly into four chapters. Especially that incredible results are only ever born from incredible people. And that these incredible people tend to be extremely sympathetic within a team environment. The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight is a book about people blessed with uncommon talent and an insane work ethic.
Was there anything that stood out when learning about the game, or you are most excited for players to read about?
PD: I was most inspired by the background knowledge and wealth of expertise that each artist brought to the project. And in every case, seeking to connect with the thoughts of others at the studio, for this to become a rolling conversation, endless problem solving. Every artist has a fascinating history, personal interests resulting from life experience, which contributed to diversity of views and representation. I think this book allows readers to peer into the souls of artists more than usual, to know why this is special.
When working on an artbook, is there a particular part of the process you enjoy the most?
PD: Without wanting to resort to cliché, it is always my honour to hold conversations with artists at this level. And I try to take away some pointers on how best to work in my small corner of the world, because the professionalism and raw talent is beyond comparison. I am taken aback by the efforts they go to in preparation for interviews, thinking ahead for me, as though part of the team albeit for only a few weeks. I see how things get done.
You’re a key part of so many releases that players enjoy having on their shelves. From the perspective of someone that helps bring them to life, is there something players likely don’t know or realise about the work that goes into them?
PD: I would like readers to know that I share their passion and want to connect them to the source as cleanly as possible. It is important to find the how and why, to describe every visual on the page. But work is the key word. The artists are unrelenting, passion-driven, seeking connections with fans. They’re fans too. What fans think really matters to them. The work ethic, without fail, is what is most inspiring about deceptively regular people. They are in their element and grateful to have the chance to prove their worth. And they are constantly referring to fellow artists as the benchmark, as though their contribution matters less, which is humbling in the least. They have other talents too, as sculptors, engineers, fine art teachers, academics building on ancient knowledge and practices. If you find what they do is special, I am here to confirm that. Talent and crazy hard work.
Thanks for speaking about being an author on artbooks and The Art & Lore of Dead by Daylight. To end, let fans know why this is worth adding to their shelves!
PD: The book is about building rapport with an audience as much as it is about technical challenges along the way. Behaviour, I hope they won’t mind me saying, are one of a kind but far from insular. They are all disarmingly honest about every victory and failure because of what has been learned along the way. It’s a success story that you can apply to being adaptable in any walk of life. It is a book about how to be scary too, of course.
Thanks to Paul for taking the time to speak about his work and the book. So many people are involved in the making of each one, so it's always valuable to hear from someone that has such a large role in helping make them special.
Just this month another book authored by Paul, The Art of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced from Titan Books. Collector's will be more than familiar with Paul Davies and his work will no doubt appear in more artbooks in the future!
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