At Gamescom, I sat down with Mark Pinney and Joe Brammer from BULKHEAD, the team behind the all-new, sensational first-person shooter, WARDOGS. In recent weeks, WARDOGS has been commandeering the conversation around large-scale shooters, taking a fairly original idea and building on it to create something that is piquing the interest of many FPS fans worldwide.
But it doesn’t end with what has been presented during the recent closed beta phase of the game. On September 10, the game enters early access, and then it’s all about the road to 1.0. As I spoke to the team, I learned what the long-term plans are, and they could include other modes to serve entirely new audiences.
WARDOGS Might Have PvE and Extraction ‘DLC’
When I sat down to talk to Pinney, CFO and Senior Game Director, and Brammer, CEO and Executive Producer, I was upfront about having had no hands-on experience with WARDOGS. In the background of our interview, the game played out on a large screen, with the team having loaded a recent stream featuring the talents of TheBurntPeanut, who has been immensely enjoying the game.
As we spoke, we talked about monetization mechanics, dealing with dropping player counts, and what the road to 1.0 looked like. That latter segment was one of the most interesting topics, as I asked them if they were going to consider some kind of PvE inclusion on the roadmap that they won’t publish, just to buck another trend.
Brammer explained that, should that kind of content surface later, it’ll emerge in the form of downloadable content or expansions:
We’ve got the whole thing. You could play it… It’s jank, but you could play it.
Yeah, long-term, that’s what we want to do. We actually have a prototype of it, where you can go off and do missions, but really, it doesn’t matter too much what it is.
Our vision is that you buy WARDOGS, you have your WARDOGS account, and we’re going to create DLC over the years.
That is new game modes.
He then switched to my other topic, which was focused on extraction-based content:
I don’t want to say it is an extraction shooter or anything like that. But, for example, you could have an extraction shooter mode where you go loot gear and it goes into your WARDOGS account, and you could then use that in this King of the Hill mode.
We’re going to DLC other modes to continue funding the game going forwards, continue the growth and let people have fun with it.
These days, it seems like a live-service multiplayer title cannot be released without someone, somewhere asking about PvE-based content. It has proven to be a real sticking point for some, with some games having their growth hampered because they choose not to have that content.
Look at ARC Raiders, for example. The stellar extraction adventure title struggles under the weight of fans demanding more PvE content. Would WARDOGS ever face a similar debate?
Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if there’s any kind of approach you’d like BULKHEAD to take with WARDOGS.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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