WARDOGS Season 3: the dates, the four new systems, slower levelling and what to do in your first week

BULKHEAD announced the date in a devlog on 6 November, posted the full patch notes the evening before launch, and took the servers down for about two hours on launch day. The table gives every date the studio has published for the season, in UTC.

The end date matters more than usual this time, because it doubles as the first Early Access price rise. Anyone who buys before 28 January pays the current price, and BULKHEAD repeats that people who already own the game 'will NOT have to pay anything extra'. Counted from the official dates, Season 1 ran 35 days and Season 2 ran 28. Season 3, at 77 days, is longer than both put together.

Season 2 sped progression up hard. Its patch notes said reaching level 20 'now takes less than half the playtime it did in Season 1'. On day one a Driver XP exploit put tanks on the battlefield, and PCGamesN reported 24-hour bans for the players who abused it most. The Lonestar team bonus was withdrawn after a single day. BULKHEAD then ruled out a 'knee jerk reset' (per games.gg, 17 October 2026) and said Season 3 would come forward instead. Our Season 2 and Driver XP pages carry that story with its sources.

The 6 November devlog is the studio's answer. It promises 'a brand new map, longer seasons, and a commitment to building the best version of WARDOGS on the road to 1.0'. The patch notes give the reasoning for the slower pace. A roughly three-month season gives 'more players time to progress and play with their unlocked items' and gives the developers 'more time to prepare and cook future seasons'. Slower levelling is pitched as 'restoring the journey many players previously enjoyed', meaning Season 1.

The launch post reduces the season to four lines: a new map, a new mode, new multi-track unlocks and a new catch-up mechanic. Here is what each one actually does, in the patch notes' terms.

'The XP required for each level has been increased.' BULKHEAD gives no new XP table for Season 3. It says only that overall progression is 'more aligned with Season 1 speeds'. Season 1 needed 250,000 XP for level 20, and Season 2 cut that to 111,500 (both figures from the Season 2 patch notes). Season 3 sits somewhere back toward the first number, but we won't estimate where until BULKHEAD publishes it.

The patch notes also warn about the first weekend. Strong teams level faster, players are 'much better at the game than they were at launch', and 'a very small percentage of players who min/max progression will unlock better items and vehicles within the first weekend'. BULKHEAD's own advice is to 'unlock, share and use early-game counters and teamwork to beat them, or stick to new player and Limited servers to avoid them'. That makes Limited Mode the intended home for anyone who can't play every evening, and progress made there counts everywhere.

The catch-up bonus is the other half of that promise. It kicks in 'week by week for low-level players', so it does nothing in the first days and grows later in the season. Its stated aim is to give players with less time 'a shot at accessing midgame items within each role before the season ends, as well as key counters to endgame power items'.

Several smaller changes in update 0.3.0 land on one role in particular. The table pulls them together so you can see what your usual role gained or lost. Every line comes from the patch notes.

Two items are gone. The Infrared Range Finder has been removed from the vendor because, in BULKHEAD's words, it was used 'in almost every match' and the Season 2 battery nerf 'didn't curb how powerful it is'. It stays out until a redesign. The Wager Vendor was closed when Season 2 launched, no BULKHEAD post announced him opening, and now he is 'going back into development'. Testing found 'too many potential exploits', and a redesign that nerfed his earning potential weakened the high-stakes role he was meant to fill.

The cosmetic side is small and charity-led. The Tactical 'Stache DLC is a Movember tie-in: 100% of its profits go to Movember. The mustache grows the more you play in November and can only be worn that month. The scoreboard badge that comes with it is permanent. The Gold Market adds five Season 3 camos, and Twitch Drops are enabled again with nine watch-time tiers. The patch notes give no price for the DLC, so we don't quote one.

The $5 price rise on 28 January is the first of the periodic Early Access increases BULKHEAD promised before launch. On the current Steam price of $39.99 (read 14 November 2026) that means $44.99, though BULKHEAD states only the $5 step. The next rise is planned 'around the 1 year anniversary of WARDOGS Early Access in September 2027'. Owners pay nothing more.

On cheating, the notes refer to 'our ban wave of 185,000+ players'. Tweaking the game with NVIDIA Inspector, and spoofing hardware to get the 'potato' shadow setting, are now bannable. The ping limit on official servers rises to 250 in every region. The launch post's press conference, with Joe, Tim and Howard, covers 'the recent ban wave' and teases future updates. Multi-track unlocks are called 'a temporary solution until we introduce the intel-based progression system next year'. So Season 3 is the stopgap, and the bigger progression rework is a 2027 job.