WARDOGS Steam Playtest Peaks at 105,000 Concurrent Players
The playtest's success follows a candid developer video that openly discussed early access risks and the studio's past, suggesting transparency may be drawing players who would otherwise stay cautious about an unfinished release.
Key Facts
- WARDOGS is a large-scale FPS from developer BULKHEAD and publisher Team17, supporting up to 100 players.
- The Steam playtest peaked at over 105,000 concurrent players, according to SteamDB, and drew approximately 500,000 unique participants.
- Early access is scheduled for September 11 on PC via Steam, priced at 4,980 yen (tax included).
- About 3% of playtest players experienced crashes, which the development team called unacceptable and will fix before early access.
- A proprietary Twitch show called 'FPS Game Show' is scheduled for September 3, with a major announcement teased.
Reporting from 2 sources: Denfaminicogamer, Automaton.
BULKHEAD's large-scale FPS 'WARDOGS' drew a peak of over 105,000 concurrent players on Steam during its playtest, according to the unofficial database SteamDB. The closed beta ran from August 22 to 24, Japan time, and publisher Team17 reported approximately 500,000 unique participants. The playtest also ranked first in Twitch viewership for two consecutive nights. About 3% of players experienced crashes at launch or during gameplay, a level the development team called unacceptable, and fixing crashes and voice chat issues will be a top priority before early access. 'WARDOGS' supports up to 100 players across three teams on a 256-square-kilometer map, battling for randomly generated control zones. Each player starts with $10,000 to buy weapons and vehicles, with funds carried over between matches. Early access is scheduled for September 11 on PC via Steam, priced at 4,980 yen, with plans to raise the price as content is added. A proprietary Twitch show called 'FPS Game Show' is set for September 3, with a major announcement teased.
BULKHEAD is a Derby, UK studio founded in 2015, known for "The Turing Test" and the WWII competitive FPS "Battalion 1944." The studio crowdfunded roughly 40 million yen for "Battalion 1944" but later issued full refunds after the player base declined. The developer addressed that history directly in its August 12 video "10 Reasons You Should NOT Buy WARDOGS," which laid out early access risks, the possibility of abusive voice chat (disableable in settings), and performance limits: "If you expect to play at 4K resolution and 240 FPS, this is not for you."
That transparency appears to have moved the needle. Wishlist count was over 800,000 when the video went up, then surpassed 1 million three days later on August 15. The video also explained the pricing plan: a $59.99 game sold at $39.99 (4,980 yen in Japan) during early access, rising to $49.99 and eventually $59.99 at version 1.0.
The closed beta itself drew players partly through pre-order access and a lottery for Steam store applicants. Concurrent counts exceeded 90,000 on the first two days before topping 100,000 on the final day, when participation slots were expanded. Feedback on the official Discord included crash reports and server queues in some regions, with additional servers added mid-test. The store page lists planned Japanese display support.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.