Season 3 Arrives November 12 with New Urban Map Sabatulo, Limited Mode and a Season Wipe
What's Changing
WARDOGS Season 3 drops on November 12, and BULKHEAD is treating it as a reset. In its "Road to Season 3" post on Steam, published November 6, the studio says the new season brings a brand-new map, longer seasons and "a commitment to building the best version of WARDOGS on the road to 1.0."
The accompanying developer vlog looks back at what went wrong in Season 2 and sets out the foundation for Season 3: "No social experiments. No reactivity." It also covers cheating and exploiting, and what the team is doing about them going into the new season.
Why it matters: according to BULKHEAD and publisher Team17's press release, Season 3 comes with a season wipe and slows progression back down, after the studio admitted Season 2 sped up the journey "too aggressively". If you've hit the ceiling already, this is your fresh start.
For weapons, vehicles and maps, keep an eye on our WARDOGS hub.
Season 3 Details
New map: Sabatulo
Season 3's new map is called Sabatulo, and it shifts the action into the streets. In the Steam post, BULKHEAD says it "brings urban warfare and close quarters combat to WARDOGS", a clear change of pace from the open battlefields of the first two seasons.
Limited Mode
The press release introduces Limited Mode, which restricts weapons, ammunition, armour and vehicles. The aim is to keep the feel of early-to-mid-game combat and reduce the advantage of top-tier gear.
FMJ-only ammunition.
Armour capped at Tier 2.
A reduced selection of attack vehicles.
Cash and XP carry over between Limited Mode and the default mode.
BULKHEAD says the full list of restrictions is still being finalised.
Wipe, longer seasons and slower progression
Season 3 includes a season wipe.
Seasons now last three months.
Progression is being brought back closer to Season 1's pace.
The studio says the goal is to recapture the sense of discovery and achievement players had at the Early Access launch. CEO Joe Brammer said "longer seasons give everyone more room to reach their own goals."
Anti-cheat and ban wave
Cheating is the other big focus. According to the press release:
BULKHEAD analysed 187 million hours of gameplay with machine learning.
A ban wave covers 185,000 accounts.
Exploiters, real-money traders and gold-farming networks were permanently banned, and their server-hosting privileges revoked.
Additional anti-cheat layers are in place, with a player trust score and further measures planned for 2027.
The studio says this work was pulled forward from its original plans for next year. "Protecting the people who play WARDOGS fairly is essential to everything we're building," said Brammer.
The release also says WARDOGS has reached nearly four million unique players since launch.
What's Next
The full picture arrives soon. BULKHEAD says more information will drop in the WARDOGS Season 03 Patch Notes Preview early next week, ahead of the November 12 launch. No launch time has been given yet.
Looking further ahead, the press release says Season 3 is part of the road to 1.0. Bigger metagame changes, including a new progression system, are planned for 2027.
