Blood of Dawnwalker sequel may drop the time mechanic, says game director

Rebel Wolves game director and studio CEO Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has hinted that the divisive time mechanic in Blood of Dawnwalker might not carry over to a sequel — at least not as a universal feature. Speaking to Eurogamer, he said the studio will only use it where it genuinely fits the story.

Tomaszkiewicz was direct about the approach: "We will play with it. If we will have parts of the story, or the whole story, to which it fits, then we will use it. If we will have stories where it does not fit, we will not force it." He also pushed back gently on the most common complaint — that the clock stops players from seeing everything in one run. He pointed out that Blood of Dawnwalker is balanced so roughly 80 percent of content is reachable even with the timer active, and argued that missing content due to choices is nothing new — The Witcher 2 forces players down one of two mutually exclusive story paths, and Obsidian's Pentiment, released in 2022, runs on a strict time structure that's central to the whole experience.

The time mechanic has been one of the most talked-about elements since launch. The "Better Story Timer" mod, which effectively disables the ticking clock, became the most downloaded Blood of Dawnwalker mod on Nexus Mods almost immediately after release. Tomaszkiewicz doesn't begrudge players using it, but he does ask that people try the game as intended first. He also noted that complaints have quieted down noticeably now that players are finishing the game and realising they had more breathing room than they initially feared — a pattern he expects to continue.

Meanwhile, Rebel Wolves is already moving on: the studio is actively recruiting a lead writer to help shape the next chapter in the Dawnwalker saga, confirming a sequel is in early development even though the first game has only been out a couple of weeks.