The Blood of Dawnwalker: Aiming for The Witcher 3's Quality in a Smaller Package

The open-world vampire RPG, The Blood of Dawnwalker, developed by former CD Projekt Red (CDPR) developers at Rebel Wolves, is setting its sights high. Despite being a smaller studio launching their debut game, the team is ambitiously aiming to match the quality of CDPR's acclaimed The Witcher 3. Dive deeper into what this upcoming title has in store and hear directly from the game's directors.

The Blood Of Dawnwalker Aims For AAA Quality

In an interview with Games Radar, The Blood of Dawnwalker's creative director, Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, expressed the team's commitment to achieving a level of quality comparable to The Witcher 3. Despite the studio's smaller size and this being their first project, the ambition is clear. When asked about the game's classification between indie and AAA, Tomaszkiewicz stated, "In terms of quality, we definitely look at AAA, because this is where we are coming from, the quality level of The Witcher 3."

Rebel Wolves, though a new studio, is far from inexperienced. The team comprises former CDPR developers who contributed to both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, along with his brother Konrad, founded Rebel Wolves to pursue greater creative freedom in their game development, free from the constraints of a large AAA studio like CDPR.

Tomaszkiewicz elaborated on the game's scope, saying, "Definitely, our games are not as huge in terms of amount of content and gameplay hours - we are a smaller studio, this is our first project, so we definitely are building something smaller. But we want to build something as robust in terms of quality, maybe a bit shorter." He highlighted that The Blood of Dawnwalker aims for a 30-40 hour main campaign, which, while shorter than typical AAA titles, does not compromise on quality. "If size is your measure, then yes it's not the size of a AAA like The Witcher. But I don't know if size is the measure, to be honest, because there are AAA games like Call of Duty that aren't 100+ hours gameplay campaigns. And I don't know if anyone would call them AA, or indie."

The Blood of Dawnwalker is set in the mystical land of Vale Sangora and follows the journey of protagonist Coen, a young peasant who gains vampiric powers after an encounter with a powerful vampire. His mission is to save his ailing sister, leading him on a quest through a dark, hostile world filled with unique challenges and narratives.

While an exact release date has not been announced, The Blood of Dawnwalker is planned for release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Fans can look forward to a gameplay reveal in Summer 2025.