The Blood of Dawnwalker comes from the same director as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This vampiric RPG is plenty different, but similarly ambitious, trading a massive open world for a dense valley, where every choice our half-vampire hero Coen makes has consequences, and how you spend your constantly passing time matters. For a long time we've been desperate to know how that will actually feel to play. Now, we've gotten the chance to play for several hours, and to chat to developer Rebel Wolves.
Filled with dense systems, The Blood of Dawnwalker has loads of great ideas that genuinely feel like an evolution of the best action RPGs we've devoted so much time to across the years. But, crucially, they don't feel like gimmicks, fitting naturally into play. This supernatural RPG is well deserving of being one of our most anticipated new games of the year. Below, we're beginning our Big Preview this month with our hands-on, and will be updating throughout the week with new interviews and insights into The Blood of Dawnwalker as the September 3 release date looms.
Join us below to explore our The Blood of Dawnwalker Big Preview with us on GamesRadar+
The Blood of Dawnwalker: The Big Preview
The Blood of Dawnwalker hands-on: Finally able to jump into Vale Sangora, we experience how this vampiric RPG plays for ourselves as we begin Coen's journey across four hours with the early game. Answering a lot of questions we had, we're already impressed with the 'time cost' mechanic in questing, the punchiness of combat, and the dense feeling of consequence.
"We miss when genre wasn't a thing," say The Blood of Dawnwalker devs making their dream RPG: "We want to have our own identity," says game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who helped define the modern RPG by also directing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. While that game's influence is felt, so much of Dawnwalker stands in defiance of genre convention, carving its own path.
Here's 5 ways that The Blood of Dawnwalker becoming my most anticipated RPG of 2026: We're always up for embracing the darkness with a new vampiric adventure, but this RPG is going above and beyond with a dense and detailed quest where almost every choice genuinely matters. No regrets.
With The Blood of Dawnwalker coming out September 3, the huge new vampire RPG is almost upon us. But, that also means we know a lot about what to expect from The Witcher 3 director's supernatural foray, from details on the story and setting, to combat, and even pre-order details.
The Blood of Dawnwalker Video
Dive Deeper
As The Blood of Dawnwalker reveals a modern-day twist, devs confirm our choices in the vampire RPG will carry into a "saga" of sequels
The Blood of Dawnwalker is just the beginning. Rebel Wolves has revealed they're planning a saga that'll extend into the modern day, with CEO Konrad Tomaszkiewicz telling us it's a "promise" to the players.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is one of the most ambitious games of 2026, driven by Rebel Wolves' desire to "get a few steps closer to pen-and-paper RPGs"
The Blood of Dawnwalker devs "were afraid that people wouldn't want to play as human Coen" so it set out to create "a combat system that can set a new standard"
Rebel Wolves isn't afraid of creating its own vampiric folklore: "We want to tell a story with vampires, not a story about vampires only"
Explore our best RPGs ranking for more of quests to take on.
