Although the game is still in early access, it has already encountered the typical glitch seen in countless AAA titles.
Wardogs, a military simulation first-person shooter (FPS) game designed for 100 players that launched in early access yesterday, was an instant hit. It currently tops Steam’s global sales chart, with over 340,000 concurrent players so far (174,000 of whom are still playing as of this writing). However, the game did not run smoothly at launch. The servers were overloaded, players were stuck in the login queue, and the game’s developer, Bulkhead Interactive, shut down the servers completely to resolve the issue. They announced on Twitter that they were working to let as many players as possible into the game quickly and apologized for the inconvenience. The problem was caused by a bug that hadn’t occurred in the previous beta version.
We’re performing another restart. All players are about to be logged out. There will be temporary downtime whilst we get things back online.
Thankyou for your patience.
— WARDOGS (@WARDOGS) September 10, 2026
Attempting to log in resulted in an error message. When Wardogs came back online, we expected to be stuck in the login queue for a while. In a video, Joe Brammer, the CEO of Bulkhead, suggested that the long queues were partly due to Valve restricting access. Brammer said that, ideally, they would fall into the AAA category in these matters, but that’s not the case. That’s why they’re in talks with Valve to resolve the issue. The situation is what it is. He didn’t step out of line; he stayed in it.
The disruption isn’t a huge surprise, given Wardogs’ popularity, but it is disappointing. Players had the impression that the numerous closed beta tests leading up to the launch would ensure a smooth launch. Bulkhead also seemed confident. During the final closed beta test last weekend, players were asked to crash the servers.
Ultimately, however, they were able to resolve the issue. This is a common situation: a game debuts to great popularity, then immediately runs into server problems. It’s as common as a crow flying past our window.
Queue information pic.twitter.com/OvkWGhka75
— Joe Brammer (@Brammflakes) September 10, 2026
