Wardogs outsells Marathon and tops Arc Raiders, Helldivers 2 in Steam launch momentum

Bulkhead's Wardogs outpaces rival shooters in Steam launch period

Wardogs, developed by Bulkhead and published by Team17, generated $70 million in Steam revenue and sold 2.2 million copies within a week of its early-access launch, according to Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott. Aligned by launch window, the shooter has already outsold Arc Raiders (1.7 million copies) and Helldivers 2 (roughly 1 million) over the same post-launch stretch on Steam, and ranks seventh among new 2026 releases on the platform by revenue.

Marathon trails on revenue despite multi-platform reach

Elliott's figures show Wardogs has produced more revenue than Bungie's Marathon across every platform on which Marathon is available, even though Wardogs is currently sold only on PC. Marathon, a $40 release like Wardogs, has not matched the PC title's commercial pace, and its lifetime revenue remains below Wardogs' single-platform haul.

Pricing and wishlist conversion at the $40 tier

Elliott attributes Wardogs' early sales to its $40 price point, which sits below the $70 standard for triple-A releases. He wrote that the game sits "below the friction point of a $70 triple-A release while capturing that chunky volume of players priced out of premium titles." Wardogs converted 11 percent of its Steam wishlists into purchases, with 57 percent of all wishlists added within the month before launch, suggesting a "late, hot hype cycle" rather than a gradual build.

Player overlap points to tactical-shooter and friendslop audiences

Alinea's overlap data shows Wardogs players overlap heavily with Counter-Strike 2 (86.6 percent), PUBG (65.7 percent), Apex Legends (58.2 percent), Rainbow Six Siege (57.1 percent), Battlefield 6 (48.4 percent) and Call of Duty (46.1 percent). The list also features sandbox-tactical titles such as Arma, Gray Zone Warfare, Hell Let Loose, Squad and Insurgency, as well as friendslop games including R.E.P.O., PEAK and Phasmophobia. Arc Raiders overlap sits at 9.3 percent.

Bulkhead's commercial rebound and studio controversy

Wardogs' launch marks a reversal for Bulkhead, which had faced financial difficulty within the past year. Studio CEO Joe Brammer separately drew attention this week for comments about crunch and hiring criteria on a podcast, which he later addressed on X and in a statement to Eurogamer, saying he was "speaking informally about our culture and the kind of environment we have at Bulkhead, rather than setting out our formal recruitment process."

Console ports and the next comparable milestone

PlayStation and Xbox versions of Wardogs are planned but are not scheduled until 2028, leaving Steam as the sole storefront for the title through at least the next two years. Whether Wardogs can sustain its opening pace and approach the lifetime performance of Arc Raiders and Helldivers 2 remains the next measurement point analysts will track.