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Reveal Timeline - Version 16 vs Version 17
Jul 22, 2026, 05:12 AM
Backfill missing revision row (2026-07-22)
Jul 22, 2026, 06:19 AM
Added July 2026 beats: development completion milestone and the gamescom 2026 playable showing
11202522January. Official Reveal44The Blood of Dawnwalker was officially revealed on January 13-14, 2025 with a cinematic trailer showing the game's setting, Coen, and the vampire-ruled valley of Vale Sangora.66Throughout 2025: The Secret History of Vale Sangora99Rebel Wolves released a sixteen-part promotional lore series written in-character by Albertus Taurinus, a fictional chronicler documenting the valley's history. The series established Vale Sangora's pre-vampire culture, religious sites, folklore, and the political situation under Skender Dragosti before the Vrakhiri takeover.1111June. Xbox Games Show1313The first gameplay trailer debuted at the Xbox Games show on June 8, 2025, confirming a 2026 release window and showing combat, the day/night split, and Vale Sangora's environments.1515June. Gameplay Deep Dive1717On June 21, 2025, Rebel Wolves held a 50-minute gameplay deep dive livestream showing over 20 minutes of pre-beta footage. Systems shown included directional combat, hex magic (Burning Blood, Feral Mind, Compel Soul), vampiric abilities (Shadowstep, Plane Shift, Plague Shift, Clawride, Blood Whips), the three skill trees, and equipment.1919August. Gamescom2121Press saw approximately 25 minutes of hands-off gameplay set in and around the Svartrau Cathedral. The same quest was shown twice, once during the day (investigation, Compel Soul hex, NPC dialogue) and once at night (stealth infiltration, murohni fight, Dawnwalker boss). Multiple outlets noted Dishonored and Arkham influences in the night gameplay.2323November. Bulletin Board #1: Vrakhiri2525Community Bulletin Board #1, titled "Vrakhiri, Our Vampiric Masters," introduced the four Vrakhiri in detail: Brencis, Xanthe, Ambrus, and Bakir. Voice actors were announced for all four.2727Late 2025. Additional Shows2929The game appeared at PAX, TwitchCon, and Poznan Game Arena (PGA). A longer gameplay show in November demonstrated a more polished build.3131December. Bulletin Board #2: Svartrau3434Bulletin Board #2, "Svartrau Town Crier," detailed the time system (hourglass icons, time only advances through quest completion and dialogue), the Blood Craving mechanic, daytime magic, and the moral complexity of the Vrakhiri ("no black and white morality").363620263838January. Bulletin Board #3: Music4040Bulletin Board #3, "Music in Our Blood," revealed the three soundtrack composers (Kolodziejczyk, Musial, Stroinski) and named three tracks: "Ballad of Night and Day," "Battle of Retribution," and "Desperate Measures."4242January. Launch Year Trailer4444On January 3, 2026, Rebel Wolves released a "Launch Year Special" trailer confirming 2026, debuting the main theme (AUKSO Chamber Orchestra). This shows new characters and locations, and featuring gameplay from a PC beta build. The key art of Coen under a solar eclipse was revealed.4646January. Reddit AMA4848On January 27, 2026, the team held a Reddit AMA on r/DawnwalkerOfficial. Key reveals: garlic is useless against vampires, no horse (supernatural traversal instead), armor but no helmets, game scope grew beyond Blood and Wine DLC size, the game continues after 30 days, and confirmed creature types including murohni, kobolds, uriashi, likho, and psoglavi.5050February. Bulletin Board #4: Under the Eclipse5252Bulletin Board #4 revealed key art by Wojtek Fus, named Coen's sword Peregrini Aurorae (Dawn's Pilgrim), detailed the three Hex Magic categories (offensive, defensive, investigative), and described the rune scars on Coen's left arm. Concept art by Damian Bajowski was also shown.5454April. Road to Launch Event5656On April 28, 2026, Rebel Wolves hosted a Road to Launch livestream from the studio, fronted by Community Lead Dominika alongside guest co-host Lionhart. The stream confirmed the official release date, opened pre-orders, revealed the four editions, and bundled three major in-engine reveals: a Story Trailer, a Gameplay Overview Part III narrated by writer Ariana Siarkiewicz, and a behind-the-scenes feature on combat motion capture.5858Release Date6060The Blood of Dawnwalker was confirmed for release on September 3, 2026, launching simultaneously on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-orders opened the same day, with a Sangoran Wayfarer's Armour Set announced as the pre-order bonus armour for Coen. The set will also be obtainable in-game later for players who do not pre-order, so no content is permanently locked behind the pre-order window.6262Story Trailer6464The new Story Trailer revealed that Brencis’s coronation as a prince is set to take place in 30 days, framing the central deadline of the 30-Day Cycle. The trailer introduced several members of Coen’s family and village, alongside Coen, Lunka, and Brencis. His mother Esme was named at the reveal; his father and two other siblings appeared unnamed until a June 30, 2026 lore bulletin identified them as Pieter, Yanna, and Mirto:6666Marat, a leader within the rebellion against the vrakhiri.Yanna, Coen’s second-oldest sibling, later named in the June 30 lore bulletin.Mirto, another of Coen’s younger siblings, later named in the June 30 lore bulletin.Esme, Coen’s mother.Pieter, Coen’s father, a former mercenary who worked the silver mines, later named in the June 30 lore bulletin.Anca, a village healer who had also been teased in the January 2026 launch year trailer.Lacra, another villager previously teased in the January 2026 trailer.6868Gameplay Overview Part III7070Writer Ariana Siarkiewicz narrated a roughly in-engine Gameplay Overview captured on PC. The video stitched together a wide cross-section of systems and progression mechanics:7272Vantage points used to scout Vale Sangora and mark points of interest from elevation.Wolf transformation introduced as an early-game perk that lets Coen travel quickly at night, described by the team as their nod to the original Dracula novel and to the studio's Wolf Pack identity. The game has no horse, so the wolf form fills the long-distance traversal role.Mercurial Fervour, a hex magic effect used to move quickly during the day to balance against the night-time wolf form.Combat abilities demonstrated in the cut: Death from Above, Voracious Bite, Piercing Shriek, Charge, Broad Swing, Burning Blood, and Ravenous Flock.The Precision perk, earned by finding and reading a manual rather than purchased on a tree, signalling that some perks come from world exploration.Quick Selection, a streamlined ability hotbar UI that replaces the earlier skill wheel. The studio attributed the change to community feedback on previous gameplay showings.Haunted sites that can only be entered during the day and reward ancient texts, tying daytime exploration into the lore economy.Shrines that act as fast travel points and double as the only places where perks are purchased. Each perk costs experience points plus a segment of time, shown by an hourglass icon, reinforcing time as a resource.An officer infamy and aggression system, an extension of the broader notoriety system, with Ambrus's blood warehouses presented as the example officer activity that escalates pressure on the player.7474Editions7676Four editions were revealed during the stream:7878Standard Edition, a digital release of the base game.Eclipse Edition, a digital release that adds a digital world compendium, a digital comic book, and the digital soundtrack.Day 1 Edition, a physical first print of the Standard Edition for retail worldwide while supplies last, including a SteelBook and a printed map of Vale Sangora.Collector's Edition, which bundles everything in the Eclipse Edition together with a physical world compendium and a Coen figurine. Available through Bandai Namco stores and selected retail partners.8080Tech Requirements8282The stream presented a tech requirements infographic across minimum, recommended, and ultra targets, produced by graphic designer Mateusz. This was the first official spec guidance for PC players ahead of pre-order; the studio later revised the minimum and recommended figures downward in a June 23, 2026 optimization update.8484Behind the Scenes8686A behind-the-scenes feature focused on combat performance. Action designer Maciej Kwiatkowski, with more than twenty years of experience in stage and screen combat, led the motion capture work. Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jan Błachowicz performed the role of the vampire boss Bakir, grounding the boss fight in real MMA strikes and grappling.8888Developer Panel9090A dev panel closed out the stream with Lead Gameplay Animator Daria Bury-Zawada, Writer Piotr Kucharski, Producer Dorota Rutkowska, and Senior Level Designer Maciej Wiśniewski. They discussed the Polish mountains as a visual reference for Vale Sangora, the active weather system covering rain, fog, and snow, the use of environmental storytelling through notes, letters, and traces of past events, and the intentional moral ambiguity of Vrakhiri rule, weighing the blood taxation of vrakhiri governance against the tyranny of the prior mortal lords.9292June. Summer Game Fest9494At Summer Game Fest on June 5, 2026, Rebel Wolves and Bandai Namco premiered a new trailer for The Blood of Dawnwalker that mixed cinematics, gameplay, and story from the game's launch content. Alongside it, the studio reaffirmed that this first chapter tells a complete, self-contained story: a definitive conclusion shaped by the player's choices, set entirely in the 14th century with no cliffhangers or unresolved plot threads.9696The same showcase closed with a separate CGI teaser for the wider Dawnwalker Saga. Future installments were confirmed as standalone games spanning different centuries, continents, and cultures, each with its own self-contained story and no time-travel or cliffhanger connective tissue. The modern, present-day imagery shown in that teaser belongs to the future direction of the series rather than to The Blood of Dawnwalker, which remains set wholly in its 14th-century valley.9898June. Community Bulletin Board #9: Coen’s Roots100100On June 30, 2026, Rebel Wolves published Community Bulletin Board #9, "Coen’s Roots." It detailed Coen’s home village of Laslea, his family, and his childhood: his father Pieter (a former mercenary who taught him swordsmanship and worked the silver mines), his mother Esme, and his three younger siblings Yanna, Mirto, and Lunka. It confirmed that Coen secretly studies Latin and reaffirmed that vampire blood has healing properties, the mechanism Brencis used to force the valley into submission during the plague.102102July. Deep Down Gameplay104104In early July 2026, roughly eight minutes of new gameplay from an early quest called Deep Down were released. The footage showed a still-human Coen exploring an underground tomb in search of a missing villager, using Focus Mode to read murals for hidden lore and loot before a boss fight against The Forgotten Guardian.106106July. Hands-On Previews and Two Million Wishlists108108In early July 2026, the first hands-on press previews were published, giving outlets roughly four-hour sessions with the prologue. Coverage was broadly positive, with reviewers highlighting the day and night split, the eight-segment time system, and the risk of Coen losing control and feeding on an NPC mid-conversation. On July 10, 2026, Rebel Wolves announced that the game had passed two million wishlists, up from one million in January and roughly 1.5 million in June, and reaffirmed the September 3, 2026 release date.110+July. Gone Gold112+On July 15, 2026, Rebel Wolves announced that The Blood of Dawnwalker had gone gold, roughly seven weeks ahead of the September 3 launch. The studio paired the announcement with a short line about Vale Sangora awaiting players. Going gold means the build submitted for certification and manufacturing is final, which also lines up with the confirmation that the console disc carries the complete game.114+July. Gamescom 2026 Appearance116+On July 21, 2026, the studio confirmed it would bring a booth to gamescom 2026 in Cologne, running August 26 to 30. Unlike the hands-off Gamescom 2025 showing, this one is playable: the announcement invited attendees to play The Blood of Dawnwalker at the booth and to talk to the developers there. That places the last major public showing about a week before release.118+July. Exclusive Quest Gameplay120+A further gameplay segment built around a single quest went out on July 21, 2026 as part of a month-long preview push. It followed the same pattern as the earlier Deep Down footage: an early-game quest played through in full rather than a cut-together montage.
