Your choices will carry forward into sequels. Save files will have weight.
In an era when games increasingly aspire to be worlds rather than stories, Rebel Wolves has chosen transparency over mystery — revealing the ending before the beginning, as if to say that the destination matters less than the journey of getting there together. Studio founder Konrad Tomaszkiewicz unveiled The Blood of Dawnwalker's post-credits scene publicly at Summer Game Fest, not as a spoiler but as a covenant: a promise to players that their choices in this 14th-century vampire saga will echo across a multi-era franchise still taking shape. It is the rare creative act of showing your hand not out of weakness, but out of a desire to build trust before the first card is played.
- A studio making its debut game chose to spoil its own ending — a calculated act of transparency meant to signal that something much larger is being built.
- The game itself creates pressure through scarcity: 30 in-game days to navigate 70 hours of content means every choice forecloses another, and no single player will see everything.
- The narrative team has designed a 'failing forward' philosophy, ensuring that even wrong turns yield meaningful story — a direct challenge to the idea that only optimal play deserves reward.
- Save files are being positioned as living documents, carrying player decisions across future installments in a saga that will span centuries, mythologies, and continents.
- Internally, the public franchise reveal doubles as a creative lifeline — keeping writers and artists energized by rotating through historical eras rather than grinding on a single world indefinitely.
- The studio's emotional state — excited, scared, panicking — reflects the vulnerability of a first release, where years of vision finally meet the irreversible judgment of players.
When Rebel Wolves took the stage at Summer Game Fest, creative director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz did something almost no developer does: he showed the post-credits scene before anyone had played a single hour. The footage leapt from 14th-century Europe to the modern day — a deliberate spoiler, not a mistake. It was a declaration of intent. Rebel Wolves and publisher Bandai Namco are building a franchise, and they wanted players to know it from the start.
The first game follows Coen, a Dawnwalker hunting vampires who seek to weaponize the Black Death. It is a dense, ambitious RPG — over 100 cutscenes, 500 dialogue exchanges, a campaign that can run 70 hours. The defining constraint is a 30 in-game day limit: time advances with every quest completed and every action taken, meaning no playthrough will uncover everything. Narrative designer Piotr Kucharski described the studio's guiding principle as 'failing forward' — even choices that lead away from the optimal path yield meaningful story, lore, and consequence. The branching is extensive, and the team has spent considerable effort ensuring the web of possibilities holds together.
The early post-credits reveal carried a second message: your choices will matter beyond this game. Save files will carry weight into sequels. Answers left open in the first chapter are promised to pay off in the saga's eventual conclusion. Tomaszkiewicz framed the public announcement as useful internally too — with concept artists and writers already developing sequel ideas across different historical eras, the shared roadmap keeps the creative work alive and prevents the burnout that can hollow out long-running projects.
Tomaszkiewicz described the studio's mood with candid humor — 'happy, excited, scared, panicking' — the emotional signature of a team about to show the world something they have spent years building. The spoiled ending was a calculated risk, an outstretched hand asking players to trust that the larger story is worth beginning. Whether that trust is earned will depend on what happens when the choices finally become real.
Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the founder and creative director of Rebel Wolves, made an unusual choice when his studio unveiled The Blood of Dawnwalker at Summer Game Fest. Instead of keeping the game's post-credits scene under wraps—the traditional reward for players who sit through the entire experience—he let it play out in the showcase trailer for everyone to see. The footage showed a jarring shift: from 14th-century Europe to the modern day, a glimpse of where this vampire-hunting saga is ultimately headed.
It was a deliberate move, and it signaled something larger than a single game. In conversations at the event, Tomaszkiewicz made clear that Rebel Wolves and its publisher, Bandai Namco, are building a franchise architecture. Think Mass Effect. Think The Witcher. The Blood of Dawnwalker is the first chapter in what the studio envisions as a multi-era, choice-driven RPG saga that will span centuries and continents, each installment exploring different historical periods, different mythologies, different versions of the vampire mythos itself.
The first game is ambitious on its own terms. Set in 14th-century Europe, it follows a character named Coen, a Dawnwalker tasked with stopping vampires from weaponizing the Black Death plague. The studio has packed it with substance: over 100 cutscenes, 500 distinct dialogue exchanges, and a campaign that can stretch to 70 hours. But here's the constraint that makes it interesting—and brutal. Players have only 30 in-game days and nights to complete their journey. Time advances when quests are finished, when actions are taken. This means no single playthrough will reveal everything. Choices branch the narrative in different directions. Some content will remain unseen, locked away behind the paths not taken.
When asked how the development team justifies creating material that many players will never encounter, narrative designer Piotr Kucharski framed it as both a challenge and a philosophy. The goal is to make every choice feel consequential and satisfying, even the ones that lead away from optimal outcomes. "Failing forward" is how he described it—even a misstep yields narrative payoff, some piece of lore or story that enriches the experience. The branching is extensive, and the team has been testing, iterating, playing through the permutations to ensure coherence across the web of possibilities.
But the real reason Tomaszkiewicz revealed the post-credits scene early was to communicate something crucial to players: your choices matter beyond this game. The decisions made in The Blood of Dawnwalker will carry forward into sequels. Save files will have weight. Kucharski hinted that answers withheld in the first chapter will pay off in the "grand finale" of the larger saga. This is a long game, played across multiple installments, and the studio wanted players to understand that from the start.
Internally, the early reveal served another purpose. Some of Rebel Wolves' concept artists and writers are already working on the sequel. By laying out the franchise's trajectory publicly, Tomaszkiewicz explained, the team gains clarity and direction. It's a way to prevent the burnout that can plague developers working on a single IP for years. By moving through different eras, different countries, different historical moments, the creative work stays fresh. The feature set expands. New stories emerge. The mythology deepens.
Tomaszkiewicz spoke candidly about the emotional state of the studio as The Blood of Dawnwalker approaches release. "Happy, excited, scared, panicking," he said, with a laugh. There's genuine confidence there, too—a sense that Rebel Wolves has built something that will resonate. But there's also the vulnerability of showing your work to the world for the first time, of hoping that players embrace the vision you've spent years constructing. The post-credits scene spoiler was a calculated risk, a way of saying: trust us, there's more coming, and it's all connected. Whether that gamble pays off depends on what happens when the game launches and players begin making their choices.
Notable Quotes
We knew that it would be a saga. You know this way that we have a high-level story which we will tell through all parts of the game, which will lead to the modern times.— Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, Rebel Wolves founder and game director
Whichever choice the players make, you have to make it a satisfying choice. I'm a big fan of failing forward, so even if you do something that is not a great attune for the character, you still get some bit of lore or some story bit that will be interesting to you.— Piotr Kucharski, narrative designer
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why reveal the ending before anyone has played the game? That seems like a risk.
It's a signal. Tomaszkiewicz is telling players that this isn't a standalone story—it's the first chapter of something larger. If you're going to ask people to live with their choices for 70 hours, knowing those choices will echo into future games, you have to be honest about the scope upfront.
But doesn't spoiling the post-credits scene diminish the reward for finishing?
Probably, for some players. But the real reward isn't the surprise of the ending—it's understanding that your save file matters beyond this game. That's a different kind of payoff. It changes how you approach the choices you make.
The game has a 30-day time limit, so players can't see everything in one playthrough. How do you justify creating content people will miss?
You make every path feel intentional. Kucharski called it "failing forward"—even the wrong choice yields something interesting, some piece of lore or story. The branching is so extensive that the team is still testing and iterating to make sure it all holds together.
Is this burnout prevention for the developers, or genuine creative vision?
Both. Tomaszkiewicz was clear that moving through different eras keeps the work fresh. You're not grinding on the same world for five years. You're exploring different mythologies, different countries, different versions of the vampire legend. That's sustainable in a way that a single-era franchise might not be.
What happens if the first game doesn't land with players? Does the whole saga collapse?
That's the vulnerability of the bet. But Tomaszkiewicz seems genuinely confident. He's already got writers and concept artists working on the sequel. The plan is solid. Now it's just a matter of whether players embrace it.