Wardogs Has 3 Million Players. Now It Needs a Recipe for the Future

Early Access is the perfect time to plan your live ops strategy. This is what I did when I worked with Passtech's team on Ravenswatch, and while it wasn't easy to balance everything between getting to 1.0 and discussing the long term plan, it was ultimately that time investment that allowed the team to be so successful in delivering a kick ass live ops strategy. I built the plan, they executed it with brilliance.

That's why Wardogs caught my eye. The last posts were all about mobile games, Path of Kings and Marvel Strike Force, so time to change things up with premium, and with a game that is doing something very interesting right now.

For those that don't know the game, it's a tactical shooter from Bulkhead, published by Team17, with 3v3 teams fighting over control zones on a 100 player map. It went into early access on 10 September at $39.99, reached about 400K concurrent players on Steam two days later, sold 3 million copies in 16 days, and sits at 84% positive reviews from more than 27K players.

Like Ravenswatch, they're doing a kick ass Early Access. And that's exactly why the next question matters.

How do they move on from there?

What is going to be the recipe that refreshes the experience, so that people say "I want to continue playing that game, I look forward to new content and I feel good about spending money"?

Doing the opposite of what Early Access usually sounds like

Early Access communication usually goes one way: why you should buy now. Bulkhead did the opposite and explained why people shouldn't buy the game, in a video called "10 reasons NOT to buy our game". They got a lot of goodwill out of it, because it shows sincerity.

And they're communicating actively, which is great. The CEO answers players himself, there are devlogs, and fixes come fast. But look at what they talk about: it's all about the now.

There is no long term roadmap. Bulkhead hasn't published one for Early Access or beyond, and even the length of the seasons is undecided. Season 2 shows what that looks like. They sped up progression on purpose, and two days later they called it "the wrong call", because some players had reached top tier armor and tanks within days. Now Season 3 may be moved up, with no date yet. That's a team reacting week by week, with the players as the roadmap.

It doesn't mean it's not working. Steam Charts has the 24 hour peak at about 227K players against 166K a week earlier, so the Season 2 wipe brought people back. But the goodwill buys time, not a strategy.

What they've said about money

No battle pass, no microtransactions, and the in game cash and gold bars can only be earned by playing. Camos won't be purchasable at all, because Bulkhead wants them to show skill, not spending. And at the same time they are saying Wardogs won't stay free of monetization forever, because servers, anti cheat and development cost money.

The one exception today is the Supporter Pack, $12.99, with three starter weapon camos, a helicopter camo and a few extras. That's a very honest position. It's also one that needs a plan, because the usual answers don't work here.

What can't be sold

Maps

Selling maps is an absolute no go. It splits matchmaking, and this game needs 100 players on a server.

Weapons

Give different weapons to people and there is always a risk of pay to win. From what I've seen of how Bulkhead communicates, that's also a big no go for them, and they're right.

Vehicles

Same as weapons. New vehicles every season, for free, is the right place for that content, even if the first attempt at Season 2 misfired.

The issue is the camo

So what's left? The camo, and that's where I think things will have to switch at one point.

Today camos are not for sale, which makes them a pure signal of skill. I would keep that for a part of them: free, and based on achievements.

For the rest, a new currency, with exclusive camos that can be bought with it. Gold bars stay earned through play, as Bulkhead promised, and the new hard currency can also be earned with progression, so it's not only for payers.

If you don't have the framework for a hard currency, making DLCs like they are doing with the Supporter Pack is also one way to do it. But as usual, DLCs mean more constraints on the sales strategy, on the ability to bundle, to make discounts. You have to follow the store rules…

One rule: camos should never be exclusively behind a paywall. That way there is no issue with selling more of them, as long as some are given away for free from time to time, in events or seasons.

Nothing in it touches the matchmaking, and nothing in it gives a gameplay advantage.

Wardogs doesn't have its recipe for the future yet, and now is the good time to think about it, before server operating costs force rushed decisions. That's the base of a plan. Bulkhead, Team17, contact me for more 😉