WARDOGS Season 3 Arrives November 12 With New Map and 185,000 Cheater Bans

Bulkhead has published its official Road to Season 03 developer diary, a roughly 14-minute video detailing the third season of WARDOGS. Season 3 begins on Thursday, November 12, on PC, bringing an economy wipe, a new urban map, reworked progression, and details of a major anti-cheat crackdown. The studio estimates it has banned 185,000 accounts.The season has been brought forward from its original schedule. Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer explained the decision as a way to give everyone a clean start after Season 2, which launched on October 15, failed to go as planned. The developers admitted they had accelerated progression too far and upset the balance, allowing some players to reach endgame gear much too quickly. A week before the developer diary, the team had announced a pause, saying it needed to slow down. Community manager Brian McCrann promised a clear plan rather than rushed commitments. Now that plan is in place, with an economy wipe as one of its central features. When Season 3 arrives, accumulated resources will be reset so everyone can start from the same position.The new map, Sabatulo, focuses on urban warfare and close-quarters combat. Progression is being rebuilt around a multi-stage unlock system. Items suitable for several roles will require progression through each relevant role track. Another important change is the move to three-month seasons. A player trust score system and a full progression overhaul are planned for 2027.The team says it analyzed 187 million hours of gameplay using machine learning and banned 185,000 accounts. By Bulkhead's estimate, roughly one in twenty players, or 4.89%, had cheated. The studio also shut down servers used to farm in-game currency and XP, permanently banned their owners, and revoked their hosting permissions. Some players have questioned the figures in comments, pointing out that current concurrent player counts are far below 185,000. However, the 4.89% refers to the studio's estimate of its total player base, not the number of players online at one moment. Whether the anti-cheat measures work as intended will become clearer when the season starts on November 12.