Witcher 3's director shows off 30 minutes of The Blood of Dawnwalker gameplay
The director of The Witcher 3 has a new game arriving this September, and now you can see roughly half an hour of it in action. Rebel Wolves, the Warsaw studio founded in 2022 by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and his brother Mateusz, gave VGC a gameplay reveal showing The Blood of Dawnwalker from its opening minutes. Pre-orders are live now ahead of a September 3, 2026 launch.
The setup
The footage starts with protagonist Coen as a fully human villager — walking the streets, chatting with neighbors, sorting out small problems. About halfway through, that quiet life ends. Ancient Carpathian vampires arrive to collect a "blood tax," killing many residents and turning Coen into a half-vampire. His family is taken by the vampire clan's leader, Brencis, and rescuing them becomes the game's only mandatory quest.
From there, the structure opens up. Coen has 30 in-game days to grow strong enough to face Brencis. Every other quest is optional — what you do with that time is entirely up to you. It's a narrative sandbox, closer in spirit to a ticking-clock RPG than a traditional open world.
The Witcher 3 comparisons are unavoidable. The combat, visual style, music, UI, and even a built-in detective sense that recalls Geralt's Witcher Senses all carry obvious DNA. That's not surprising: Konrad directed Witcher 3, while Mateusz served as its lead quest designer and later quest director on Cyberpunk 2077, per VGC's profile. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5 and is published by Bandai Namco — mainstream AAA distribution, not indie self-publishing.
Built differently
Rebel Wolves was founded explicitly as a reaction to the crunch culture that shadowed Cyberpunk 2077's development. Tomaszkiewicz left CD Projekt RED in May 2021 after a workplace investigation (he was cleared) and built Rebel Wolves around a stated "team-first" philosophy. The studio has around 120 staff — a fraction of CDPR's headcount — and has been open about keeping development sustainable. An Xbox Wire hands-on from July 2026 quotes Tomaszkiewicz expressing confidence in the finished product.
Pricing and availability
The Blood of Dawnwalker launches September 3, 2026 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X. The Standard Edition is priced at £59.99 in the UK and $69.99 in the US. The Eclipse Edition — which adds a soundtrack and a comic prequel — runs £69.99 / $79.99. Pre-orders are open on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store. The game is planned as the first chapter in a larger saga.
