The Blood of Dawnwalker Had a Modest $40 Million Budget

Rebel Wolves' September hit, The Blood of Dawnwalker, was developed on a budget of only $40 million, according to a new Bloomberg report. The Warsaw, Poland-based studio managed to create the game and attract a solid player base with the funding provided by NetEase Inc.

Game designer Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, known for his work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, led early development of Rebel Wolves' first game with a small team in 2022. Tomaszkiewicz self-funded the project for the first year while the team built a prototype to secure a partner. NetEase later stepped in to finance the game and acquired a 26% stake in the studio.

The $40 million budget places The Blood of Dawnwalker in the AA space rather than the AAA realm, where costs often soar. For comparison, IO Interactive's 007 First Light reportedly had a budget over $200 million, and Sony's Marathon is said to have had a similar budget, as did The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West.

This relatively modest budget meant less risk for Rebel Wolves, NetEase, and publisher Bandai Namco, but it didn't hinder the game's success. Metacritic shows The Blood of Dawnwalker has received "Generally Favorable" reviews from both critics and users. IGN awarded it a 9/10, calling it "an impressive, bloody cocktail of interesting ideas and well-written characters, making it one of this year’s best open-world RPGs."

It's unclear how successful The Blood of Dawnwalker has been since its launch for PC and consoles earlier this month, but some clues have emerged. Rebel Wolves told Bloomberg it is "extremely" happy with the results, including over 1 million copies sold in just a few days. SteamDB reports that player numbers for the single-player RPG remain strong, with a 24-hour peak of 24,495 concurrent users after hitting a peak of 78,188 shortly after launch.

Tomaszkiewicz told Bloomberg that his initial goal was to keep Rebel Wolves from growing too large, but as ambitions grew, so did the team. The studio had around 90 staff in 2024 but has since expanded to 160 members. Now, as they work on sequels to The Blood of Dawnwalker and more, Tomaszkiewicz said they "don't want to overdo it."

"We decided that the size of the team we have right now is the most fitting for our needs," Tomaszkiewicz said. "It’s still letting me know everyone. I can speak with everyone every day. I still feel like a creator and not a manager, which is the place I want to be."

The Blood of Dawnwalker launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on September 3, 2026. As work on more projects continues behind closed doors, more updates for Rebel Wolves' debut title are on the way, including New Game Plus, which was recently confirmed to be in development.