The shooter that Tencent abandoned: Wardogs hits 2m sales in one weekend

Key Points:

• Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer revealed the studio faced potential redundancy last December after Tencent dropped ownership, but a deal with Hiro Capital and Everplay saved the company, relying heavily on the success of their tactical FPS Wardogs.
• Wardogs exceeded expectations by selling over two million copies, far surpassing the 400,000 needed for survival, though the game faced technical challenges like DDoS attacks and cheating due to its rapid growth.
• Brammer emphasized the importance of hiring passionate FPS players internally to maintain quality, as the company plans cautious scaling after six years of layoffs, aiming to avoid upheaval while expanding the team.
• Bulkhead embraces a philosophy of being clear rather than fully transparent or honest, openly acknowledging crunch periods and setting expectations with employees and players about the studio's work culture and game design direction.
• The studio launched the FPS Games Show to spotlight shooter games independently after missing Gamescom, and despite the challenges, plans to develop it into a festival-style event with paid tiers and support for smaller developers.