The Blood of Dawnwalker is an AA title, with a $40 million budget from NetEase to develop it.
One of the standout titles of this month so far (many more to come) and for 2026 is Rebel Wolves’ latest action RPG, The Blood of Dawnwalker. In its first week, the game has sold over 1 million copies and received strong reviews from critics and audiences. Now, it has been revealed that not a lot of money was poured into this project.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Development Budget and Other Details Revealed
A recent Bloomberg report reveals details about the development budget for “The Blood of Dawnwalker.” Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the director of this new vampire-themed RPG, conceived the idea in 2022 and assembled a team to create a prototype to attract investment. Tomaszkiewicz initially funded it, but by the end of 2022, the project caught NetEase’s attention, which ultimately acquired a 26% stake in the studio and provided a $40 million development budget.
The entire next year went into recruiting staff, and by the end of 2023, production of Blood of Dawnwalker commenced. The team was initially supposed to be limited to 90 employees, but eventually grew to 160. Tomaszkiewicz states, “We decided that the size of the team we have right now is the most fitting for our needs. It’s still letting me know everyone. I can speak with everyone every day. I still feel like a creator and not a manager, which is the place I want to be.”
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Development progressed with Bandai Namco publishing and marketing the game, and the only hiccup left was the release date. The team decided to go for a more crowded window in September, rather than forcing the team to work overtime to release in June. Rebel Wolves were also sure they didn’t want to change the game’s foundations, so they kept them the same as in the pitch deck, which helped with meeting timelines. Tomaszkiewicz concluded, stating, “In the end, we landed in a really good production without a lot of big problems.”
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