WARDOGS has 22% fewer players on average than in September, and Season 2 has not turned that around. Steamcharts puts the average over the last 30 days at 174,445 players at once, down from 223,917 across September (Confirmed). The 24-hour peak on 20 October was 226,884, a little over half the 428,666 record this site logged on 13 September.
Did Season 2 bring players back?
For a few days. Season 2 went live on 15 October and peaked at nearly 289,000 players, according to SteamDB figures cited by GamingBolt (Reported). Five days later the daily peak is about a fifth lower. Season 2's launch →
Reviews moved the same way. Steam rates recent reviews Mixed, 63% positive across 46,451 reviews, against Mostly Positive, 76% all-time (Confirmed).
Our read is that the cause is the one Bulkhead has already named. On 17 October the studio said speeding up progression "was the wrong call", because some players reached "end-game gear like tier-four armor and MBTs within days, so the wipe never really landed", in a post quoted by PCGamesN (Confirmed). A fresh season that does not feel fresh gives returning players little reason to stay. Why tanks arrived before their counter →
What is Bulkhead doing about it?
Bringing Season 3 forward, without a date. Bulkhead says it is "looking at significantly bringing forward Season 3 and some of its content, so you get a proper fresh start", and that it will not do "a knee-jerk reset" mid-season (Confirmed). A developer video promised for this week had not appeared by 20 October.
Servers that cap weapons, gear and vehicles at lower tiers are also planned for a mid-season update, again undated (Reported). Levels reset every season, so an early Season 3 is a full restart for everyone. How levelling works →
[!NOTE] Steamcharts and SteamDB count slightly differently. Steamcharts lists the all-time peak as 402,686; SteamDB and this site's own tracker logged 428,666 on 13 September. The averages and the 24-hour peak here are Steamcharts throughout.