You've probably read that WARDOGS levelling is broken. Bulkhead's view is that it's slow on purpose. On the Push to Talk podcast, published 2 October, creative director Tim Nightingale, technical designer Mark Tadros and Joe Brammer spent most of an hour on progression. This is what they said, and what it means for how you play a match.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Source | BigfryTV, Push to Talk podcast, 2 October 2026 |
| Biggest number | The end-of-match bonus is 40% of your role XP |
| First vs third | First place pays 3× what third does |
| Power spikes | Level 20 (soft cap), level 35 (every role) |
| Is it changing? | Yes, slowly. No dates |
Slow levelling is a choice, not a bug
Brammer framed it as a pick between two problems. One is levelling that feels "too slow and too difficult". The other is "I've maxed out the content. I've got nothing to do." Bulkhead picked the first, "because the journey in WARDOGS is the fun bit."
The developers put the other side bluntly: "we've had a lot of cases where everyone has everything they've ever wanted in infinite cash and they're miserable." Anyone who has hit the ceiling in a Battlefield season will recognise that.
That isn't the same as saying the pace is right. "We don't think that progression is the right pace," Brammer said. "The solutions we have are going to take time to implement." No date came with that.
The bonus most players walk away from
The single most useful number in the hour: the end-of-match bonus contributes 40% of the XP for your role, according to Tadros. And it scales with placing. "If you come first, it's triple what you get from third."
Nightingale said most progression in the game "actually is kicking out from match end bonuses", and that first, second and third all pay a large bonus. Leave early and you get none of it.
Bulkhead admits the game doesn't tell you this. "One of the biggest problems that we have right now is surfacing the win bonuses," Nightingale said. Tadros added that players go idle when the score nears the end, "when the score hits like 98", without realising the game refunds your loadout at the end of the match. Stay to the end, and push for first rather than settling.
Stay in the hot zone, or lose the streak
There's a second mechanic the developers say they'd rather you learnt by playing: hot zone streaks. The longer you stay in the hot zone without leaving, the more each tick pays, Tadros said. "But if you leave the hot zone, it's gone."
He also said the hot zone "statistically will visit every single spot inside of the control zone over the duration of a match". So don't build a routine around one corner of the map.
Better players level faster, for now
"Right now it is very skill-based," Nightingale said. "The better at the game you are, the faster you are gonna progress." With four or five hours a weekend, you'll fall behind someone who plays 40. Bulkhead knows. Catch-up systems "that make it easier for someone to like pick up and play" are planned, without a date.
It's also why a fresh account feels outgunned. Nightingale said the number of bullets an AK-74 needs "isn't that different" from a Galil or an M4, but there is "a perceived power imbalance" anyway. The gap you feel is partly the kit and partly the person holding it.
Where the power jumps are: level 20 and 35
Two levels matter more than the rest.
- Level 20 is "an early soft cap where lots of stuff comes online", Nightingale said, naming rocket-pod Little Birds and the M4. How much XP each level takes →
- Level 35 is "the big spike" for every role, Tadros said, naming the Havoc among its unlocks.
Bulkhead's estimates aren't always right either. Its team expected the first Havoc a week in. Someone had it within about 36 hours of launch. "You can't balance the game for that 0.000001% of the play base," Tadros said.
What changes with the Season 2 wipe
Wipes are staying for Early Access. Nightingale said they give the team "the freedom to kind of like position stuff where it needs to be." Seasons have no fixed length: "It can be a month, it can be six weeks. It can be three months," Brammer said.
Two things carry over. Everything in the gold bar store stays "season on season", except the Black and Gold AK. And after 1.0, resets "will look very different", with players able to take "certain things" with them. What resets and what survives →
The bigger fix is more to unlock. "We need more stuff to unlock," the developers agreed. Season 2 adds four weapons, one per class, and more ammo types are planned. What Season 2 adds → · Skills, Intel and the Gunsmith →
Why the FOB costs $7,500
One more number from the same conversation shows how fast these systems move. In the two betas, Tadros said, only 2% of players drove. Moving the heavy tank into the Driver tree took that to 10%, and more trucks meant more building. One zone ended up with about ten FOBs, so Bulkhead raised the FOB from $2,500 to $7,500. How the cash economy works →
Expect Season 2 to move numbers like that again. Check the patch notes before you plan a build around any of them. Every unlock and what it costs →
