When was the WARDOGS Closed Alpha?
The first WARDOGS Closed Alpha ran from 7 to 9 August 2026 on Steam, invite only through Bulkhead FirstLook, and has now ended. The next test is the Closed Beta, live from 17:00 UTC on Friday 21 August to 02:00 UTC on Monday 24 August 2026, which runs through Steam instead: pre-ordering guarantees access, or you can request access free on the Steam page for a chance at a place.
7 to 9 August 2026, on Steam, invite only. It has ended.
The next test is the Closed Beta, live from 17:00 UTC on Friday 21 August to 02:00 UTC on Monday 24 August 2026, and it works differently: access comes through Steam rather than FirstLook, guaranteed if you pre-order and by lottery if you use the free Request Access button.
The alpha's login window was reported as 17:00 UTC on Friday 7 August through to 02:00 UTC on Monday 10 August — one continuous window rather than three separate sessions. Those clock times were reported rather than confirmed at the time, from outlets citing official @WARDOGS posts. Bulkhead has since put the identical window in writing for the beta, which makes the alpha figures look right in hindsight without making them sourced.
How Closed Alpha access worked → · Weapons observed in the alpha →
Labelled Confirmed — Stated by Bulkhead, Team17, or the official Steam page.