Wardogs closed beta access
BULKHEAD's Closed Beta Weekend runs from 17:00 UTC on Friday, 21 August 2026 to 02:00 UTC on Monday, 24 August 2026. There are two ways in: a pre-order, which guarantees a place and works with either edition, or the Steam Playtest queue, which gives out a limited number of places at random. This page covers both, what the editions cost, and which details have not been announced.
Friday, 21 August 2026 · 17:00 UTC
Servers are live for 57 hours straight. Branded as 21-23 August, but the servers stay live until 02:00 UTC on Monday the 24th. The clock above switches to counting down the remaining time once the beta opens, and the line under it converts both instants into your own timezone.
Source: these times come from BULKHEAD's beta schedule card, supplied 19 August 2026. They are not on the Steam store page or in the Steam news feed, so we hold them at reported rather than confirmed until they appear somewhere linkable — the days (21–23 August) are confirmed by the pre-order announcement.
No NDA. BULKHEAD have lifted it for the weekend: the beta is free to capture and stream.
Two ways in
1 · Pre-order — guaranteed
- Pre-order on Steam. Either edition works — beta access is listed in the contents of the standard edition, so the Supporter Edition buys cosmetics, not earlier or better access.
- Use the account you intend to play on. Access is attached to the Steam account that owns the game, so pre-ordering as a gift moves it to whoever redeems it.
- Watch the store page when the window opens. BULKHEAD have not said how the build is delivered — whether it unlocks on the game's existing library entry or arrives as a separate install — so the store page and the Steam news feed are what to check on the day.
- Leave room for a full install. No download size has been published and no preload has been announced, so budget for a first-time install rather than a patch.
BULKHEAD put it plainly in the pre-order announcement: pre-ordering lets them grant access directly “without fully opening the floodgates like an open beta would”, which is how they size servers for launch. They also say to refund if the beta does not live up to it.
2 · Steam Playtest — free, but a lottery
A limited number of places are drawn at random through Steam Playtest — request access on the store page. It is the Request Access button on the Steam store page, and it costs nothing. BULKHEAD have said the external key route from the closed alpha is closed — they were capped on how many keys they could send — so the playtest queue is the only free path, and how many places it holds has not been published.
Which edition
| What you get | WARDOGS | Supporter Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Base game, Steam Early Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Guaranteed access to the Closed Beta Weekend (21–23 August 2026) | ✓ | ✓ |
| 3 starter weapon camos: Valkyra A-91, Lonestar Bushmaster, Manticore KH-2002 | — | ✓ |
| Littlebird helicopter 'Taxi' camo | — | ✓ |
| Supporter icon on the scoreboard (can be hidden in settings) | — | ✓ |
| Grenade bobblehead | — | ✓ |
| Helmet bobblehead | — | ✓ |
| Price (US) | $39.99 | $49.99 |
What has not been announced
These are unknown rather than unlisted. We do not print a plausible guess in place of a figure nobody has published, here or anywhere else on the site.
- Download size and whether there is a preload.
- How many Steam Playtest places there are, and when the draw runs.
- Which regions get servers for the weekend.
- Whether beta progress carries into Early Access or is wiped.
- Which weapons, vehicles and maps are in the build, and whether the full roster on this site is available.
When BULKHEAD publish any of these, they land on this page with the announcement named. The primary source is the Steam news feed, which the countdown page also carries.