Wardogs, an upcoming large-scale, hardcore FPS inspired by games like Arma, is taking a unique approach with its marketing by listing 10 reasons why prospective players shouldn’t buy it.
In an official video, developer Bulkhead revealed September 10 as Wardogs’ Steam early access release date, but also laid the rest of its cards on the table. Point by point, it outlined all the main reasons why potential players might not want to take a chance on the shooter, ranging from its lack of content, high early-access price, visual fidelity, and even the failure of Bulkhead’s previous shooter, Battalion: 1944.
“Before the hype train gets out of control, we want to do something most AAA marketing teams would tell their dev teams to never do–give you 10 legitimate reasons why you should not buy Wardogs,” Bulkhead said in the video.
Those reasons are as follows:
- Lack of early-access content
- Early-access pricing
- Player count will decline
- Monetization
- Performance and visuals
- Shifting early-access priorities
- Battalion: 1944
- VOIP
- Controller support
- Decisions and consequences
Some of those reasons are fairly self explanatory, like lack of content during the early-access period and its price. Wardogs will initially cost $40 in early access, a steep price for some. The price will go up over the course of development and will eventually sell for $60 at the end of early access.
“If the price sounds too high for an early-access game, please don’t buy it yet,” Bulkhead said.
Other reasons require a bit more explanation. Decisions and consequences refers to Wardog’s more milsim-style gameplay, where death requires a long trek back to the frontlines and rebuying lost equipment.
“If you’re running in like you’re playing Call of Duty or Battlefield, you will likely die to someone playing more cautiously,” Bulkhead said. “If you’re not willing to learn from those deaths, you’re going to have a bad time.”
While Wardogs doesn’t yet have any monetization like a battle pass or paid skins, there will eventually be some way for Bulkhead to make more money and continue funding the game’s development. However, that will likely be years from now, as Bulkhead said it won’t monetize the game during early access. Additionally, Bulkhead won’t sell weapon camos or in-game currency, with players needing to earn them through play.
“It might seem strange to be talking about monetization years down the line, but we want you to be able to buy in knowing what you’re buying into long term,” Bulkhead said.
One of the most hard-hitting reasons is Bulkhead’s track record. The team previously released Battalion: 1944, a 5v5 Call of Duty-inspired shooter that died almost immediately on release, having only ever reached between 50-200 concurrent players, Bulkhead said. The studio eventually saved enough funds from work-for-hire projects to stay afloat, offered refunds to players, and refunded Battalion: 1944’s Kickstarter backers, but it understands why some players may be hesitant.
“It’s these lessons and scars from Battalion that Wardogs has been built upon,” Bulkhead said. “It’s why we’ve been so cautious with our playtesting and why we’ve been so open with our marketing. To be really clear, we wouldn’t have Wardogs without Battalion’s failure, but if you still don’t trust our studio because of Battalion: 1944, don’t rush to buy Wardogs.”
So far, Bulkhead’s list of reasons don’t seem to be slowing down Wardogs’ sales. It’s currently climbing up Steam top-seller charts.
