The Blood of Dawnwalker: Vampire RPG Emphasizes Player Freedom

Featuring developers who worked on various Witcher games, as well as Cyberpunk 2077, Rebel Wolves is yet another new indie game studio with some serious talent behind the scenes. The Blood of Dawnwalker is its debut title and is due for release in 2026 on all major platforms. 

Presented as the first part of a brand new roleplaying saga, The Blood of Dawnwalker features what Rebel Wolves calls its “Narrative Sandbox.” Effectively, a way for gamers to experience the game world on their own terms. A recent gameplay stream highlighted some of the dark fantasy action, as did an initial trailer released on June 8, 2025.

“You play as Coen, a young man turned into a Dawnwalker, forever treading the line between the world of day and the realm of night. Fight for your humanity or embrace the cursed powers to save your family,” Rebel Wolves said on the game’s official website. 

“Whatever your choice, the question stands: is your soul worth the lives of those you love?”

Fangs For The Memories

Set during the Black Death in 14th Century Europe, The Blood of Dawnwalker sees vampires and other creatures of the night rise from the shadows. After Coen is turned into a Dawnwalker he can seek out his monstrous sire to exact bloody revenge, or forget about him and go on other adventures. 

Time moves on in the game world, so it’s not possible to do everything in one go. This also acts as a constant reminder for players that they need to be proactive, rather than wait for an NPC to restart a scripted loop, for example.

Rebel Wolves is promising to inject a fresh dose of blood into the open world RPG genre, although it may not be as distinctive as it hopes. Obvious cultural touchstones include Marvel’s Blade (the original Daywalker) and the Elder Scroll’s series. Gameplay is even reminiscent of Dontnod’s Vampyr and Arkane’s Dishonored.

There also looks to be (intended or otherwise) influence taken from the 2021 horror series Chapelwaite. Based on the work of Stephen King, it followed a ship’s captain as he uncovered a plot by vampires to take over the world and turn humans into docile cattle, set against the backdrop of a terrible disease. 

Off With His Head

A recent gameplay video streamed on the studio’s Twitch channel on June 21, where pre-beta gameplay was shown. Similar to The Witcher 4, Dawnwalker is being built in Unreal Engine 5 and as such already looks in decent shape. 

The video highlighted melee combat (including a decapitation), item use, and spell-casting, which all unsurprisingly has echoes of The Witcher 3’s combat system. Skills were also shown, and these are split into three parts: human, vampire, and shared. 

Rebel Wolves also presented a cutscene seguing into a multiple choice conversation. Daniel Sadowski, the game’s Design Director, explained how these choices can have ripple effects.

“Depending on when you tackle a particular quest, what choices you’ve made earlier, whom you’ve befriended or whom you’ve angered, your gameplay and story experience will be very, very different.”

“So each quest is a complex structure with multiple possible paths leading to the end goal,” he added. “We maximize player’s freedom and agency, offering you a Narrative Sandbox to play in.”

I Vant to Drink Your Blood

The Blood of Dawnwalker is built on a dual gameplay loop, with nighttime bringing with it new paths to explore and abilities to use – Coen’s vampire skills include vertical travel options that mean areas which seem impossible to reach during the day will be able to be reached at night.

Coen also develops a thirst for blood at night, tying his health bar to hunger. To survive, and to use vampire powers, he will need to feed. However, players might want to take care who they drain, as killing important characters won’t break the game but will lead to unpredictable circumstances. 

“Remember, our design principle is the Narrative Sandbox,” said Sadowski. “There is no difference between main quests and side quests. There’s just different stories that you weave together into your own unique adventure.”