"We will continue to make improvements so that you can enjoy The Blood of Dawnwalker more comfortably"
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The Blood of Dawnwalker finally launched this week to "Mostly Positive" reviews on Steam as well as from critics and players, but as you should come to expect in the year 2026, there also seem to be some fairly substantial performance and optimization struggles bogging the whole thing down.
Rebel Wolves' debut title has been on my watchlist since its initial announcement, and it sounds like the wait has been worth it for most players, but I've been desperately trying to hold off on starting it until the inevitable array of bugs and performance problems have been patched out (GR's Austin Wood has a great writeup on that philosophy) – or my patience runs out, whichever comes first. The good news is Rebel Wolves is moving at a quick pace as it takes in feedback about the game's optimization, with the first post-launch hotfix having officially arrived on all platforms.
Patch 1.0.2, as it's named on Steam, is just a tiny little patch, but it's a good sign that Rebel Wolves got it out so quickly. After all, the game just launched yesterday, so the fact that we're already seeing performance patches is encouraging. Anyway, onto the changes:
The hotfix includes fixes for three specific gameplay bugs. Rebel Wolves says in the patched version, "Coen can talk to Farkas now even after killing all NPCs around him," "Lunka no longer gets lost when leading Coen in the tutorial," and "Uriashi blacksmith learned how to craft a certain holy sword." I just love the thought of the tutorial guide getting lost and turning back toward you with a shrug.
A PC-only fix makes "adjustments to controller dead zone and input issues while sprinting (PC Only)," and uh, that's it. That's the patch. Like I said, it ain't much, but Rebel Wolves promises there's more to come, even acknowledging certain issues like stuttering (it advises you launch the game in full-screen for now), game crashes (make sure your BIOS is up to date), and the conspicuous absence of button mapping options for PS5 controllers.
"We will continue to make improvements so that you can enjoy The Blood of Dawnwalker more comfortably," the dev says. "Thank you for your support and patience."
You know what, I think I've waited long enough. Is it 5PM yet?
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Time to read up on our guide on what to do first in The Blood of Dawnwalker after the prologue
After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.
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