Wardogs, the ambitious shooter from Battalion 1944 and The Turing Test developer Bulkhead, will soon arrive on Steam early access. The studio announced today, after months of invite-only tests, Wardogs will finally be released on 10th September.
Pre-orders are live as of the time of this writing, and it guarantees access to Wardog’s upcoming closed beta, which is available for one weekend: 21st-23rd August on Steam. And the developer appears to be so comfortable with what it’s made that players are invited to refund their purchase after playing the beta if they don’t like it.
The game is priced $40 during early access, but the plan is to raise that to $60 at full release. Early access won’t include any in-game monetisation but Bulkhead said you should expect paid cosmetics after release. At early access launch, only the Supporters edition cosmetics will be available.
Wardogs matches take place in large open spaces that support up to 100 players. The game features Battlefield-style combined-arms combat, though with some of the logistical focus of Hell Let Loose, Squad or Arma.
Wardogs launches into early access with three maps that have three variations each, and several vehicles and weapons. Development in early access will focus on game performance, stability, balance, bug fixes and any other topic players raise after getting their hands on it. And the plan is to remain in early access for “roughly 24 months”.
Bulkhead has taken a transparent approach to Wardogs’ marketing since its reveal, with the developer regularly communicating its goals for the project with players. The studio has repeatedly said it’s not making a game for everyone, and preemptively addressed topics it knows will be discussed – such as game performance versus visuals and the ever-controversial player count.
This continues today with a pre-order trailer titled “10 Reasons NOT to Buy”. It’s worth watching the video for an idea of what to expect from early access.
Control Zone is its main mode, where three rival teams of mercenaries try to capture key locations and secure cash. Said cash ties into the meta game component, which players use to buy weapons, vehicles and other useful items. The more successful jobs you do – even down to just transporting players around in a helicopter – the more money you make.
Through closed tests and developer diaries over the last several months, Wardogs has been building momentum, and currently has over 800,000 Wishlists on Steam.
