Summary
The Blood of Dawnwalkerdebuted its long-awaited reveal trailer, featuring mostly pre-rendered footage alongside a few brief glimpses of gameplay. The promotional video underlines the game’s previously hinted similarities toThe Witcher, which will be paired with somePersona-like elements.
The Blood of Dawnwalkeris the debut title from Rebel Wolves, a Polish studio founded by former CD Projekt Red developers, who worked onThe Witcherseries andCyberpunk 2077. It wasinitially announced asDawnwalkerin January 2024, when Rebel Wolves described it as a narrative-driven open-world RPG with meaningful choices and a dark fantasy setting.
Almost exactly a year later to the day, Rebel Wolves and publisher Bandai Namco hosted areveal stream forThe Blood of Dawnwalkeron January 13. The broadcast ended with an extended cinematic trailer boasting a runtime of over four and a half minutes. The video establishes the game’s setting and offers a first look at the titular Dawnwalkers, who are basically vampires on steroids in the game’s lore. The trailer also introduces Coen, the protagonist of the upcoming RPG, who gets turned into a Dawnwalker at the start of the game.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Reveal Trailer Is Reminiscent of The Witcher
With its dark fantasy setting, monsters, and the concept of an open-world RPG with morally gray choices—not to mention the tagline “the world needs what it fears”—TheBlood of Dawnwalkerwould evoke strongThe Witchervibes even if it wasn’t made by former CDPR developers. Anyone who enjoyed the vampires anddifficult decisions fromThe Witcher 3’sBlood and Wineexpansionis hence likely to be intrigued by the premise of Rebel Wolves' debut game. Its focus on player choice is also reflected in its inclusion of a morality system, allowing Coen to either embrace his Dawnwalker side to save his family or cling to what remains of his humanity.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Also Takes a Page From Persona’s Book
WhileThe Blood of Dawnwalkerseems similar toThe Witcheron the surface, it also aims to introduce some interesting twists on the concept of an open-world RPG. Most notably, the game will featurePersona-like time management mechanics, with every quest taking time to complete. “There are multiple approaches to saving Coen’s family with no clear division between main and side quests; you decide on how you spend the time,” said Rebel Wolves co-founder and game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz. Completing every quest and story arc in a single run will not be possible, which is a design decision meant to encourage replayability and make each playthrough feel unique. Rebel Wolves refers to this concept as a “narrative sandbox.”
There are multiple approaches to saving Coen’s family with no clear division between main and side quests; you decide on how you spend the time.
The Blood of Dawnwalkeris presently in development for PC and the current-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles. It was envisioned as the first game in a trilogy, and will be published by Bandai Namco. The project still doesn’t have a concrete release date or even an estimated launch window. However, since it started development in 2022 and has a triple-A budget, it seems unlikely to hit the market until 2027 at the earliest. In the meantime, Rebel Wolves committed to sharingThe Blood of Dawnwalker’s gameplay reveal in summer 2025.
