Wardogs, the hundred-player realistic shooter from developer Bulkhead, has surpassed one million Steam wishlists roughly six months after its reveal and one month ahead of its Early Access launch, as confirmed by the studio.
Here’s the context: Wardogs is entering a crowded multiplayer shooter space that currently includes Battlefield 6, which is running its own Top Gun collaboration and expanding its map and content cadence. Wardogs distinguishes itself with a hundred players split across three teams fighting over randomly chosen action zones on massive maps, with a cash-based loadout economy that rewards teamwork over raw kills. GameLuster’s own impressions piece described the game as half Battlefield, half ARMA, with a bit of king of the hill mixed in, praising the freedom it gives players to specialize as snipers, chopper pilots, or combat engineers.
Honestly, the more interesting story here isn’t the wishlist number itself – it’s how bluntly Bulkhead is undercutting the hype around it. A studio hitting a million wishlists ahead of launch would typically lean into momentum marketing, but Bulkhead has instead published a video titled ‘Ten Reasons Not to Buy Wardogs’ and is actively telling players to refund the game if the beta doesn’t meet their expectations. That’s a rare posture for a paid Early Access launch, and it reads as an attempt to manage the notoriously rocky reputation competitive shooters earn when they overpromise post-launch content.
UX Director Howard Philpott addressed the decision to open a closed beta directly, framing it as a response to alpha testing feedback rather than a marketing play. Philpott stated the team wants to be as clear as possible about what Wardogs is, what it isn’t, and what players should expect during Early Access, adding that adopters should not expect regular content drops since the team will focus on the core experience and metagame first.
- Early Access launch – Thursday, September 10, priced at $39.99 / £36.99
- Closed beta window – August 21–23, accessible via Steam store request or guaranteed through pre-order
- Launch content – 37 weapons, 27 vehicles, and three maps, with one additional map planned
- Pricing escalation – Rising to $49.99 as content is added, then $59.99 at full 1.0 release
Bulkhead is also drawing a hard line on monetization. The studio confirmed a Supporter Edition with bonus cosmetics will be the only monetization during Early Access, and stated it will never sell in-game currency or allow direct camo purchases, arguing cosmetics should reflect that a player has worked hard to unlock that item, not how much money they have.
What remains unclear is how a wishlist figure this large will translate into actual Early Access sales and sustained player counts once the novelty period passes. Wishlists are a strong signal of awareness, not a guarantee of conversion, and Bulkhead’s own messaging suggests the team is bracing for a slower, feature-light opening stretch rather than a fully-loaded launch.
What to watch: The August 21–23 closed beta will be the first real stress test of server stability at scale, and Bulkhead has said the results will directly inform launch-day infrastructure. The September 10 Early Access debut will then show whether that million-strong wishlist base actually shows up on day one – or waits, as the developer itself has suggested they should, to see how the core loop holds up.
Does a studio telling you not to buy its own game on day one make you trust it more, or does it just read as expectation management? And with Escape from Tarkov and Battlefield 6 both competing for the same audience this fall, is there room for a third major multiplayer shooter to stick?
