On the weekend of August 21 to 23, 2026, the closed beta of Wardogs took place, and the numbers on Twitch already show the shooter’s potential to become a hit.
The Wardogs weekend in numbers: Wardogs peaked at 105,000 simultaneous players, making it not only one of the most played games on Steam over the weekend, but it also excelled on Twitch:
- 8,000 streamers showcased Wardogs over the weekend, including well-known names in the shooter scene like shroud, cloakzy, and especially The Burnt Peanut, who had a meteoric rise with Arc Raiders. They didn’t just drop in briefly; they played for 20 to 30 hours over the weekend.
- Up to 199,000 viewers watched simultaneously, the majority of them tuning in to The Burnt Peanut, who reached a peak of 62,700 viewers.
- In total, this resulted in 6 million hours of viewing time from Friday evening to Sunday. That translates to 250,000 days or 685 years.
By comparison: The closed beta of Call of Duty managed to attract a similar number of players over the weekend but had significantly less appeal on Twitch. Many of the big names either didn’t play or only dropped in briefly. Ultimately, it totaled “only” 4 million hours of viewing time – despite having many more streamers showcasing the shooter.
Our shooter expert Dariusz was also on board over the weekend.
The right clip at the right time
What does this mean for the success of Wardogs? The shooter definitely has good prerequisites after the beta weekend to become the next viral hit. So far, Wardogs is not just being well received by the first players, but also offers many “clip-worthy” moments that can spread on social media – and that has fueled many hits in recent years.
With its release in mid-September, Wardogs could come at just the right time. While the month is packed with releases to the point that it almost seems funny, many of the hot new releases are hardly in direct competition with Wardogs.
Promising action titles like Blood of the Dawnwalker and Onimusha not only differ in genre, but they are also strictly single-player games. On the shooter side, EVE Vanguard is penciled in for the third quarter of 2026, but hardly anyone is currently talking about it. We can only wait and see what exactly WoW will announce at BlizzCon from September 12 to 13.
And last but not least: The Burnt Peanut only explained at the end of July that he needs a new “main game” where he can truly feel at home (via X).
Did you also check out Wardogs over the weekend and are now looking forward to the release? Let us know in the comments!
It seems everything points to Wardogs making a really strong start. Whether the shooter can hold its ground long-term remains to be seen. It will be exciting at the latest on October 8, as ARC Raiders, the shooter sensation of last year, plans to return with its big update.
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