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Reveal Timeline
May 2, 2026 at 03:17 AM
Added April 2026 Road to Launch event coverage with September 3 release date, four editions, pre-order bonus, Story Trailer and Gameplay Overview Part III details, and dev panel notes
The 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.
Rebel 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.
The 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.
On 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.
Press 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.
Community 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.
The game appeared at PAX, TwitchCon, and Poznan Game Arena (PGA). A longer gameplay show in November demonstrated a more polished build.
Bulletin 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").
Bulletin 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."
On 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.
On 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.
Bulletin 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.
On 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.
The 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.
The 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 previously unseen members of Coen's family and village by name, alongside Coen, Lunka, and Brencis:
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.
Writer 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:
Vantage 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.
Four editions were revealed during the stream:
Standard 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.
The stream presented a tech requirements infographic across three tiers (minimum, recommended, and ultra), produced by graphic designer Mateusz. This was the first official spec guidance for PC players ahead of pre-order.
A 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.
A 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.
