Intro

Rebel Wolves are former CDPR devs who worked on The Witcher 3 and have since split off to do their own thing. That thing was recently revealed to be The Blood of the Dawnwalker, a narrative-driven sandbox RPG.

Story

While it does delve into mythological, The Blood of the Dawnwalker is not entirely set in a fictional universe. Instead, it takes place in a valley around the real-life Carpathian mountains but the valley itself appears to be fictional.

As for the time period, it is mid-14th century since Black plays a prominent role. This was the time the plague tore Europe a new one, which is a segue into the game’s story.

Due to the plague and humanity’s weakness at the time, vampires saw an opportunity to come out of the shadows and assume dominion, which is depicted in the cinematic trailer.

With the protagonist’s life on the line, as well as those of his family, players will make choices that branch out and provide different outcomes but unlike a linear RPG, this one appears to have a bit of a randomizer for increased replayability.

Narrative-driven sandbox and gameplay

According to Rebel Wolves, players will not be able to get all the quests in a single playthrough. This is due to the game’s time mechanic where a single playthrough will last for 30 in-game days.

There will be a day and night cycle and player’s abilities will shift during these cycles, meaning even the gameplay will be randomized to a degree. As hinted by the trailer, the player will be turned into a vampire who can walk in open sunlight but while his claws will be a formidable weapon during the night, the protagonist may have to lean into conventional weaponry while the sun’s out.

Gameplay reveal date

A few short snippets of gameplay have been shown in the trailer above but a proper gameplay reveal is scheduled for Summer 2025.

Only vampires have been shown in the trailer but the official website notes other creatures will follow their lead so be prepared to face just about every thing that goes bump in the night.