Bulkhead Studio head Joe Brammer has officially announced that the entire development team behind the shooter Wardogs will be taking an extended vacation for the entire December. The decision was made immediately following the game's successful early access launch, and according to the CEO, the studio staff "gave it their all," performing tasks outside their usual job descriptions for the sake of the project's overall success. Now, the team intends to completely disconnect from work processes, leaving players to deal with bugs and shortcomings of the early version on their own.
December Without Code: Complete Disconnection from Development
Such a bold move for an indie studio that has just released a product in early access is explained simply by Brammer: the team has earned a rest. While most publishers continue to maintain player engagement during the winter holidays through generous giveaways, seasonal events, and marketing campaigns, Bulkhead chooses a different strategy — an honest acknowledgment that developers need time to recover. The studio makes no secret that the office will be closed in December and promises no "quiet" patches or updates during this period.
GTA 6 as the Ideal Excuse for Silence
The key factor that determined the choice of December for complete disconnection was, in Brammer's ironic remark, the release of GTA 6. The Bulkhead CEO jokingly notes that Rockstar Games' new creation will capture the entire gaming audience's attention, allowing the team to rest peacefully without a barrage of complaints on forums and social media. Brammer directly invites Wardogs fans to spend December in Rockstar's new project, and return to Wardogs battles in January with updated content and fixed bugs. The mention of the "Leonida invasion" in the studio head's statement emphasizes that the team is well aware of the scale of competition for player attention during this period and is not trying to fight it head-on.
"Slowing Down" Is Not Surrendering
It is worth noting that the decision for the December pause is not an improvisation. Previously, the Bulkhead team had already stated its intention to "slow down" in Wardogs development, pointing to a conscious work-pace management strategy. For a small studio simultaneously running early access, gathering feedback, and preparing content updates, the risk of team burnout is one of the primary threats to the project's long-term viability. A month-long vacation is essentially an investment in the quality of future updates and the preservation of developer motivation.
Patience for Players Until January
For the Wardogs community, December will be a period of forced waiting. The studio promises no support hotline or rapid critical bug fixes over the course of the month. Those who purchased the game in early access will be forced to either switch to other projects — primarily GTA 6 — or simply wait until January when the team returns to active work. Brammer does not apologize for this approach, but positions it as a sign of respect for his own people and honesty with the audience: a month of silence is better than a year of burned-out developers and a stagnating product.
