Fresh FPS Wardogs has quickly become a Steam phenomenon, with a Very Positive rating across 32,134 reviews as of writing. But developer Bulkhead isn't letting success change it, recently announcing in the Wardogs server, "We are dick heads."
As is the plight of many new and popular multiplayer games, Wardogs has been suffering from agonizing queue times. Three days after its early access release, on September 13, its peak player count already hit 428,666 – which is many more guys with guns than the game's Eastern European mountain setting can handle. Bulkhead tried releasing the pressure the worst way, by prioritizing influencers in queue, and it's already regretting the decision.
In a clip from FPS YouTuber TheBurntPeanut's recent Wardogs game shared by games media personality Jake Lucky, you can see a short server announcement flicker on the screen: "The devs put influencers in a queue jump." It swaps to a new message explaining, "We are dick heads."
In case that admission was still too vague for you, Bulkhead tries again with another set of server announcements, clarifying that, "The streamers didn't ask for it," and "The devs are dick heads." The sentiment seems to have been reserved for the 100-person warfare game's busy launch day. Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer also added a personal message as part of that day's apology artillery, saying – according to a screenshot posted on Reddit – "We're sorry boys. Tomorrow we have put all influencers at the end of the queue."
First of all, Wardogs is for boys, confirmed. Second, influencer priority is, I think, an annoying but common strategy for FPS developers, so Bulkhead isn't a lone sinner – but that doesn't make its transgression any easier to accept. I empathize with the 356,282 queued Wardogs players who struggled to get a game going while a random Twitch star gets VIP treatment, and I question the utility of giving influencers right-of-way with the hope of their content attracting more players… when you could just give more players better access.
That said, Wardogs only ever prioritized 11 influencers. 11 out of 356,282.
"I wouldn't say we were predatory," a reflective Brammer says on Twitter. "I'd say we have 11 influencers on a list and they totalled over 300,000 views, while our systems were struggling! For me, that's just a smart move.. We're an entertainment company who make games. 11 people provided entertainment for 300,000 people."
"BUT, maybe I'm just way off base here," the CEO concedes. But, to his point, a comment on a Reddit thread on the topic says, "Having someone to watch play was good while I waited in queue. I wasn't complaining."
Another comment says, "I think the funniest part is that I went and looked a few twitch streamers, and the few that supposedly did have some sort of favoritism and was already in game were just sitting there AFK because their lobbies weren't full yet." Ultimately, Wardogs devs aren't the tragic dickheads they thought themselves to be. And, based on the early access game's still Very Positive rating, it seems that most players agree.
