A hundred players, three teams, one mountain

WARDOGS drops up to 100 players into three warring factions fighting over a 2x2 km stretch of a much bigger 256 sq km map, set in a destructible Eastern European industrial mountain range. Everyone starts with $10,000 in in-game cash to kit out loadouts, gear and vehicles before diving into the fight, and buildings and terrain can actually be blown apart as the match plays out.

It's built by Bulkhead in Unreal Engine 5 and published by Team17, and it's currently in Early Access on Steam, with the developers saying it will likely stay there for one to two years.

Why it's suddenly everywhere

The closed beta back in August pulled in close to 500,000 players, with more than 100,000 playing at once at its peak, and that hype carried straight through to the Early Access launch on September 10. WARDOGS shot to number one on Steam within hours, sold over 1.25 million copies on day one, and held somewhere around 300,000 to 340,000 concurrent players - all while launching the same day as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

• Over 1 million wishlists before launch
• 17,000+ user reviews sitting at "Mostly Positive"
• No battle pass and no microtransactions, which the devs leaned into with a viral video literally titled "Ten Reasons Not to Buy Wardogs"

What it actually costs, and what's missing

The Standard Edition is $39.99, with a Supporter Edition at $49.99. It's PC-only for now - Team17 has confirmed a PS5 version is coming, but not until 2028, and Linux support through Proton is still being worked on rather than guaranteed.

Worth remembering this is Early Access, so expect bugs, missing features and balance swings while Bulkhead keeps building it out.

WARDOGS is for anyone who misses the chaos of big Arma-style economy shooters but wants something faster and scrappier, with real cash on the line every time you drop into a match.