Wardogs boss talks balance, XP, and why ’the endgame is sh*t’ right now
Bulkhead Interactive has acknowledged significant balance problems in the endgame of its live-service shooter Wardogs, with studio leadership being remarkably candid about the issues affecting the current season.
The developers have identified a “mortar spam meta” as a key problem, where players gain access to excessive mortar ammunition due to inadequate cost balancing. The studio plans to nerf mortar ammo costs to address the situation.
In a frank statement, a Bulkhead representative described the late-game experience bluntly, stating “the late game isn’t broken, it’s sh*t.” Rather than concealing these issues, the studio has adopted a transparent approach, explaining that Season 1 was deliberately designed to be short specifically because of known endgame balancing problems.
The reasoning is practical: a typical three-month season would leave players grinding through nine weeks of poor gameplay after the promising first three weeks. By keeping Season 1 short, Bulkhead aims to minimize player frustration while the team works on fixes.
The studio emphasizes these problems were anticipated as part of their development roadmap. While they didn’t predict every specific balance issue, they acknowledged that the endgame required substantial work at launch. This approach suggests Bulkhead is using the early period to gather data and iterate rather than launching with a fully polished endgame experience.