Rebel Wolves, developers of The Blood of Dawnwalker, put out a trailer last week showing off console gameplay of their upcoming action role-playing adventure, but the new footage ended up backfiring. The video revealed that PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game would not be able to run at 60 frames per second, instead targeting 40, which frustrated many, as 60 frames is considered the standard for action games like this. Today, developer Rebel Wolves issued a new announcement: The Blood of Dawnwalker will run at 60 fps after all, thanks to a day one patch coming to consoles.
“Performance Mode was already in the works, but it was still being tested,” a post on the official Dawnwalker social media pages reads. “We simply weren’t ready to promise it yet. We heard your feedback. It was clear how much this mattered to many of you, so we focused on finishing the next round of tests. Those results gave us the confidence we needed to confirm Performance Mode for Day 1.”
The developers go on to state that the patch will now allow the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game to target 60 fps in Performance Mode, 40 fps in Balanced Mode, and 30 FPS in Quality Mode. The PS5 Pro version of the game will include “overall visual enhancements,” though Rebel Wolves doesn’t elaborate exactly on what that means. Finally, the less-powerful Xbox Series S will be stuck at 30 FPS.
Personally, I hope Rebel Wolves succeeds on this day one patch, though I do find it surprising that it expects to turn this around by September 3, the game’s release date – it seems like a tall ask in a short window. Still, I (and most everyone else, I assume) would prefer to play The Blood of Dawnwalker at 60 FPS, so I’m looking forward to seeing the studio pull it off.
Rebel Wolves was founded by developers who formerly worked at CD Projekt Red on beloved games like The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077, so the hype around its upcoming project is substantial, even alongside the fall’s other major releases. For more on The Blood of Dawnwalker, subscribers can check out our exclusive cover story from a few issues ago, and all readers can check out our suite of follow-up coverage.