The Witcher 3 director's new game Blood of the Dawnwalker gets gameplay reveal, launches September 2026

Rebel Wolves—the studio founded by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, former game director on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077—has released a story trailer and gameplay demo for its vampire-themed title The Blood of Dawnwalker, confirming a September 3, 2026 launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The gameplay footage shows solid attention to medieval dark fantasy detail. Snow-covered environments handle lighting much like The Witcher 3's Kaer Morhen sequences, while third-person combat follows CDPR's design philosophy—prioritizing positioning and timing over mindless hack-and-slash. The skill tree interface reveals genuine RPG depth, with vampire ability branches that appear mechanically distinct rather than stat padding.

The environmental reconstruction deserves mention. Forest village layouts and mountain outpost fortifications show the team studied medieval military architecture—gallows, watchtowers, and wooden palisades are positioned according to period-accurate defensive logic, not just scattered for atmosphere. This level of restraint is rare in fantasy titles, where many developers distort historical structures for "dark ambiance."

Rebel Wolves marketed itself as "former CDPR core members" at launch, and the demo validates that pedigree. Tactically, stealth, frontal assault, and vampire abilities offer meaningful combination space rather than linear progression. The map system's annotation detail—soldier outposts, exploration markers—uses clear iconography, indicating the open-world framework is already functional.

The September 2026 window allows substantial polish time. Compared to similar vampire titles, Vampyr proved market demand exists for narrative-driven RPGs in this space—the question is whether Rebel Wolves can transplant CDPR's narrative craft and quest design expertise. Dialogue and cutscene quality in the demo footage avoids awkward "fantasy English" cadence. If the final release maintains this standard, hardcore RPG players have reason to watch this one.