What it is
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a single-player, open-world dark-fantasy action RPG from Rebel Wolves, the Polish studio founded by veterans of The Witcher 3. It launched in the UK on Thursday 3 September 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The central idea is simple but unusually influential: Coen is human during the day and a vampire at night, and how you spend each part of the day changes both his abilities and the story.
- UK release
- 3 September 2026; Steam PC unlock was 11pm BST on 2 September.
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S.
- Developer
- Rebel Wolves.
- Publisher
- Bandai Namco Entertainment.
- UK price
- £59.99 Standard; £69.99 Eclipse; Collector’s Edition launch listings around £174.99.
- PEGI
- PEGI 18+.
- Genre
- Open-world dark-fantasy action RPG.
- Online mode
- No — single-player only with offline play enabled.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5.
Story and setting
The game takes place in 14th-century Europe, in Vale Sangora, a secluded region of the Carpathian Mountains. Wars and the Black Death have weakened human society, allowing vampires to emerge from hiding and seize political power. The valley is controlled by Brencis, a vampire lord whose rule places Coen’s family in danger.
Coen is transformed into a Dawnwalker, caught between humanity and vampirism. His immediate aim is to rescue his family, but the game also asks how much of his humanity he is willing to sacrifice. Once the prologue ends, the story gives you 30 days and nights to act. You cannot help everyone, and every quest, decision and period of preparation moves you closer to the deadline.
How it plays
Dawnwalker is built around two distinct gameplay loops. By day, Coen fights as a human with swordplay and magic. At night, his vampire abilities become available, allowing him to use claws, supernatural movement and other powers to approach problems differently. The two forms are not simply cosmetic variations: they open different routes through encounters, change how you deal with enemies and affect what you can discover.
The world is designed as a narrative sandbox rather than a checklist of identical activities. Vale Sangora contains forests, plains, swamps, mountain areas, settlements, ruins and hidden locations, with quests that can be approached in different ways. You can investigate secrets, prepare carefully or take a more direct route, while alliances and choices alter the story. It is played entirely from a third-person perspective and is designed for one player offline.
Launch, patches and performance
The release version received a substantial day-one patch, followed by several hotfixes. Hotfix 1.0.2 addressed quest progression, tutorial behaviour and PC controller input; 1.0.3 added DualSense support on Steam; and 1.0.4 improved stability while fixing blocked quests, a save issue, controller-related frame-rate drops and several PC rendering problems. The latest official patch note verified by 27 September is Hotfix 1.0.5, released on 10 September, which improved shader compilation to reduce stuttering for some PC players.
That patch history matters because launch performance was one of the game’s weaker areas, particularly on PC, where shader compilation and stutter were recurring complaints. The PlayStation version is offline-enabled, supports manual saving and is marked as PS5 Pro Enhanced. PC requirements are relatively demanding for a new-generation RPG: the official recommended specification calls for 16GB of RAM, a 60GB SSD and a GeForce RTX 4060, Radeon RX 7600 XT or Intel Arc B580.
Platforms, editions and UK price
The Blood of Dawnwalker is available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. In the UK, the PlayStation Store lists the Standard Edition at £59.99 and the Eclipse Edition at £69.99. Eclipse adds a digital world compendium, soundtrack and comic book. The physical Day One Edition contains the game, a Steelbook and a printed map, and was positioned at the Standard Edition price. The Collector’s Edition adds the Eclipse content, a physical compendium, map, Steelbook, collector’s box and a 23cm Coen figure; UK retailer listings put its launch price at roughly £174.99, although stock and current prices vary.
The advertised release date is 3 September 2026. For UK PC players, the global Steam unlock occurred at 11pm BST on Wednesday 2 September, while console versions became playable at midnight on 3 September. There is no early access period attached to any edition.
Reception and verdict
Critical reception has been broadly positive, particularly for the writing, character work, reactive quests and the unusual time structure. IGN awarded it 9/10, while PC Gamer scored it 83/100. The main reservations have centred on combat that can become repetitive, uneven open-world activity and technical problems at launch rather than the ambition of the setting or its branching narrative.
Dawnwalker is strongest when it makes its deadline and its day-night split matter at the same time. It is less convincing when it falls back on familiar open-world combat and exploration routines. If you want a focused, story-led RPG with meaningful choices and a darker take on medieval fantasy, it is worth considering at the Standard Edition price. Players particularly sensitive to PC performance or combat polish should make sure the latest patches are installed before starting.
Not yet confirmed
- No story expansion or DLC adding new playable areas has been announced as of 27 September 2026. The Eclipse extras are a digital compendium, comic and soundtrack rather than a campaign expansion.
- New Game Plus has been discussed for a future update, but there is no confirmed release date and it is not available in the current version.
- No Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One version has been announced.
- No Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus catalogue inclusion has been confirmed as of 27 September 2026.
The Blood of Dawnwalker: your questions
Is The Blood of Dawnwalker on Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus in the UK?
No inclusion has been confirmed. The game is sold separately through the Microsoft Store, PlayStation Store, Steam and physical retailers.
Does The Blood of Dawnwalker have online multiplayer?
No. It is a single-player game with offline play enabled and no announced co-op, competitive multiplayer or shared-world mode.
How does the 30-day time limit work?
After the prologue, Coen has 30 days and nights to save his family from Brencis. Quests and other major actions advance time, so choosing what to pursue is part of the game’s structure.
Can you play as a vampire all the time?
No. Coen is human during the day and gains his vampire abilities at night. Each form has different strengths, weaknesses and ways to approach combat and exploration.
