WARDOGS Playtest & Beta — Timeline & History
All WARDOGS playtests are over — Early Access has been live since Sep 10, 2026. This page keeps the beta timeline and records for reference, plus how to get into any future test events.
Beta Timeline
| Wave | Dates | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Closed Beta 1 | Aug 7–9, 2026 | First public hands-on |
| Closed Beta 2 | Aug 21–23, 2026 | ~105,774 peak concurrent players |
| Final Beta | Sep 3–6, 2026 | Opened to everyone Sep 5; 245,118 peak CCU; 30,000+ queued for the firing range |
Current Status
No playtest is running — the game is out now on Steam. Buying it is the only access route (see Price). If BULKHEAD runs test events for future updates, they will be announced in the official Discord and on X (@WARDOGS).
Why the Beta Exploded
BULKHEAD expected 5,000–10,000 players in the final beta; the open wave hit a 245,118 peak, briefly making WARDOGS one of the most-played games on Steam. The studio passed 1 million wishlists in August — and the Early Access launch outsold even that hype.
Related Pages
Release Date
WARDOGS is out now: Early Access launched Sep 10, 2026 at 16:00 UTC on Steam. Launch content, what changed vs …
Steam Charts
WARDOGS player count: 428,436 all-time peak CCU (Sep 13), 1.25M+ copies sold in the first days, beta records o…
Servers
WARDOGS server status: launch-week queues and downtime explained, how to check if servers are down, whether pr…
Review
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