WARDOGS Closed Beta Draws 90,000 Concurrent Players on Steam
The 90,000 concurrent players came despite the developer deliberately holding back access-request slots for server stability testing, a sign demand for the 100-player FPS exceeds what the test was built to hold.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
BULKHEAD and Team17 started the closed beta for WARDOGS on August 22, running until August 24 at 11:00 JST. SteamDB recorded over 90,000 concurrent players, and login queues formed immediately after the test opened. The developer had planned to hold back access-request slots until the late weekend to test server stability. Early access begins September 11 at 4,980 yen, with Japanese support planned.
The login queues were the first sign of scale. On the official X account, players reported tens of thousands of people waiting in line, and some said they reached the front only to fail the connection and get sent back to the end. The developer had announced it would hold back access-request slots until the late weekend to reduce server load, which made the concurrent count notable.
WARDOGS had already built attention before the test. Steam wishlist registrations passed 1 million, and the developer published a video titled "10 reasons not to buy it" that drew discussion. An August 11 press release put the Steam wishlist at 800,000. The game is in development for Steam, with early access at 4,980 yen and Japanese support planned.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.