Wardogs servers go down as over 300,000 people rush to play on launch day [Update]

1:02 PM PDT: "Please prepare to download a new Steam client," the latest communique from Bulkhead reads. "Everyone currently in-game will be logged out. When booting back in, you'll be put in the server queue. We'll then let players back into the game in waves to ensure stability."

Wardogs, a 100-player milsim FPS that launched today in early access, is an immediate hit. It's currently Steam's global top seller and has so far peaked at over 300,000 players. Unfortunately, you might not be able to play it right now.

Servers are getting slammed, players are stuck in the login queue, and as of this writing, developer Bulkhead has taken servers offline entirely to work on a fix.

"We are actively working towards getting as many of you in game as soon as possible. Apologies for the disruption," the Wardogs account posted on X. "This is due to an issue that wasn't present in the previous beta."

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Trying to log in currently serves up an error, and when Wardogs does come back online, you should probably expect to be stuck in a login queue for a while. In a video posted today, Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer seemed to suggest the long queues are partially due to being "rate-limited by Valve."

"Ideally we'd be on a triple-A tier for some of this stuff, but we're not. So we're talking to them, trying to get that sorted out. It is what it is. I wouldn't leave the queue, I'd just stay in."

The disruption isn't a huge surprise, given the Wardogs' popularity, but it is disappointing. Players had the impression that the numerous closed betas held right up to launch would mean a smooth launch day. Bulkhead seemed confident that they were in a good place, too: The final closed beta held this past weekend invited players to "obliterate our servers."

Are you sure about that?

from r/WarDogs

But the day is still young. Hopefully it all gets sorted sooner than you're reading this. I'll update this story when servers are back up.

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