Steam ‘Dad Shooter’ Explodes in Popularity After Devs Tell Fans Not to Buy It

Gamers have a notoriously rebellious streak. Instruct them to turn right, and their immediate instinct is to veer left. This is a demographic entirely willing to spend ten grueling minutes scaling a sheer, vertical cliff face simply because they know taking the scenic path around it is too straightforward. Therefore, when developer Bulkhead brazenly urged Steam users to reconsider purchasing their tactical first-person shooter, the predictable outcome occurred: absolute fascination.

Positioned as a grittier “dad shooter,” *Wardogs* aims to deliver a more uncompromising tactical experience reminiscent of classic *Battlefield* and *Call of Duty* titles. The game boasts an impressive checklist of modern bullet-point features: massive 100-player lobbies, fully destructible environments, intricate progression skill trees, base building, and a robust arsenal. It even introduces creative mechanics, such as letting players operate as in-game arms dealers. So far, early previews of the squad-based shooter have been overwhelmingly encouraging.

Ahead of its September 2026 early access launch, the creators behind *Wardogs* published a provocative 15-minute feature titled “10 Reasons NOT to Buy.” The video opens with a reassuring promise that anyone dissatisfied with the upcoming beta period will be granted immediate pre-order refunds.

“We want to do something that most AAA marketing teams would tell their dev teams to never do,” a Bulkhead developer explains in the clip, “which is to give you ten genuine reasons why you shouldn’t purchase *Wardogs*.”

Astonishingly, this isn’t a clever, tongue-in-cheek marketing ploy meant to subtly humble-brag about the title’s boundless potential. Instead, it serves as a startlingly candid evaluation of the potential pitfalls players ought to weigh before committing $39.99 to the project.

For instance, Bulkhead voices genuine concerns regarding a potential lack of content volume. Rather than leveraging the early access phase to rapidly pump out new expansions, the studio intends to channel its energy into refining and polishing existing systems. “Players should not expect a constant stream of content drops,” the narrator warns.

Additionally, the developers question whether $39.99 is a fair asking price for an unpolished early access build. Desperate to find a financially viable long-term model, they transparently caution that microtransactions might eventually find their way into the ecosystem. While the goal is to protect the integrity of the core gameplay, Bulkhead wants to avoid pulling the rug out from under its community down the line.

The presentation is packed with sobering realities—issues inherent to live-service games that publishers typically sweep under the rug. For example, Bulkhead admits that despite current momentum, concurrent player numbers will inevitably fluctuate over time. Furthermore, the team refuses to publish a rigid development roadmap. Perhaps most disarming of all is the frank confession that the studio’s previous project was a commercial failure. While those hard-learned failures forged a stronger team, the developers openly acknowledge why cautious consumers might hesitate to trust them.

Rather than acting as a deterrent, this radical honesty has cultivated fierce brand loyalty. One top-rated YouTube comment noted that the user purchased the game within mere seconds of the video’s conclusion.

“This style of marketing and communication is a refreshing antidote to all the corporate nonsense we’ve been conditioned to accept over the years,” another viewer wrote.

“This is completely unprecedented,” another commenter added.

Naturally, an unorthodox strategy like this would fall flat if the core game wasn’t actually fun. The developers are downplaying their own achievements: despite managing expectations about sparse future updates, *Wardogs* still launches with significantly more substance than most competing big-budget shooters.

It comes as little surprise, then, that *Wardogs* rocketed into Steam’s top ten best-selling titles within a single day of the video going live.

Even after massive refunds, a surprising number of people kept the expensive game

Source: Polygon