Revision 9

WARDOGS takes place in a modern military setting fought across the derelict industrial mountains of Eastern Europe. Crumbling factories, worn infrastructure, and rugged high ground form the backdrop for its large-scale battles. The battlefield is vast, around 256 square kilometres, with the active Control Zone dropping into a different part of it each match.

Kolchia and PV-1

The conflict is set in a war-torn region called Kolchia. According to the developers, the fighting centres on PV-1, a rare resource that has fuelled decades of Eurasian conflict. Kolchia is described as containing multiple locations and points of interest, which is where the randomised zone and its surrounding battles play out. Early access opened on 10 September 2026 with three maps, each carrying three different variations, so the same ground can be fought over in more than one configuration. One of those maps has since been named in the studio's own text: the Season 2 preview, published on 9 October 2026, said that all faction spawns had moved on Bakurani, and the Season 2 patch notes confirm that all three team spawns there were moved and rebuilt with purpose-built routes to the zone. As of 16 October 2026 the other two maps have not been named in official text, and no list of the places on any map has been published. Numbered towers do turn up in official clips, one of which is built around a surprise attack at Tower 4, which points at towers as recurring positions to fight over rather than at any map name.

Real-World Reference

The look of the region was built from photography rather than invented whole. The team has said it gathered reference firsthand in Georgia and describes the world as grounded in reality, which is where the derelict plants, worn concrete, and steep valleys come from.

Rain

Season 2, live since 15 October 2026, added a rain weather preset. Surfaces, vehicles and characters get visibly wet, rain sounds different under cover, indoors, inside a vehicle or in the open, and it comes through roofs that have been destroyed. Heavier rain brings thunder that every player on the server hears at the same moment from the same direction, loud enough to mask footsteps. Rain also shortens spotting range and dampens Molotov fire.

The Three Factions

WARDOGS does have named sides. Each match is contested by three rival factions: Lonestar, the heavy-hitters of the Western paramilitary world, which the studio has since described as an established private military company backed by one of the world's leading economies; Valkyra, a force seeking to return the Soviet People’s Republic to greatness; and Manticore, the Kingdom of Persia and Tehran’s shadow army. These identities set the colour and flavour of each side, while the fight over the zone is what actually drives a match. As a player-versus-player sandbox, the game leans on this setup rather than on a scripted single-player campaign.