Tens of thousands of players have flocked to Wardogs' firing range 24 hours before its final closed beta begins, a turnout that has surprised developer Bulkhead. The popular multiplayer shooter, slated for early access on September 10, saw its pre-launch firing range module peak at 30,000 concurrent users.
Bulkhead's game director, Joe Brammer, expressed his astonishment on social media, stating, "WHY ARE 25,000 OF YOU GETTING INTO THE SHOOTING RANGE, YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY." The overwhelming engagement suggests significant anticipation for the title, which has surpassed one million wishlists on Steam.
The final closed beta is scheduled to run from September 3 to September 6. Access to this beta is tied to a $40 pre-order. Brammer explained that this controlled approach is a deliberate stress test, aimed at simulating the server load expected at launch rather than an open, unmanageable influx of players.
"In this situation, what we’re doing is starting a controlled fire and seeing what burns the fastest to help us prevent and manage a blaze if one does occur in the future," Brammer said. "If we open the flood gates, very very few systems hold up to the numbers we hit in our first beta, having 100,000 players spam a queue, isn’t that useful to us." The developer wants to understand how servers will handle player behavior, such as widespread interaction with the server browser.
This approach is a shift from the developer's initial plan to surprise players with the beta announcement during an FPS Games Show livestream. However, teasers led to fan speculation about an open beta, prompting Bulkhead to clarify the pre-order requirement.
Previous playtests for Wardogs have also seen massive player counts, with one earlier test drawing nearly 500,000 players and causing significant server strain that impacted initial playtime. The developer is actively encouraging players to "Obliterate our servers" during the beta period to identify and resolve potential issues before the early access launch.