'The Witcher 3' Devs' New RPG 'The Blood of Dawnwalker': How Is It Performing on Streaming?
English and Eastern European Viewers Lead the Charge — World-Building Praised, Polish Questioned
Kim Jun-su (HealT) Reporter | 2026-09-14 09:26:20
Original article: https://www.thisisgame.com/series/429865?newsId=400081
This week's hottest title at a glance — global streaming metrics! We took a look together with ContentFlux, a data analytics solution.
Today's subject is The Blood of Dawnwalker. We examined how the debut title from a new studio founded by developers of The Witcher 3 is being received in the streaming market.
Surpasses 1 Million Sales in Its First Week, Sequel Already in Motion
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a third-person open-world dark fantasy action RPG from Rebel Wolves. Rebel Wolves is a studio founded in 2022 by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, game director of The Witcher 3, and includes many developers who previously worked on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 at CD Projekt Red (CDPR).
Players take on the role of Coen, whose family has been taken by the vampire faction 'Brahkir' that rules over his village, and set out on a journey to save them. By day, Coen fights as a human using weapons and sorcery, while by night he unleashes vampiric powers as a 'Dawnwalker.'
Players have only 30 days to save their family. Since time passes with every quest completed, careful prioritization is essential.
▶ Coen, the protagonist who is both human and vampire. (Source: The Blood of Dawnwalker official Steam page)
The Blood of Dawnwalker surpassed 1 million copies sold globally over its launch weekend. User reviews are also strong, holding a 'Very Positive' rating with an 84% positive score on Steam as of September 11.
Meanwhile, the game's lead writer, Jakub Szamalek, announced via LinkedIn that he is hiring a lead writer for the studio's next project, hinting that work on a sequel has already begun.
▶ The Blood of Dawnwalker holding a 'Very Positive' rating as of September 11. (Source: The Blood of Dawnwalker official Steam page)
Viewership Centered on English-Speaking Audiences, with Strong Eastern European Presence
According to ContentFlux's Top 100 chart, which tracks global streaming metrics, The Blood of Dawnwalker ranked across major platforms shortly after launch.
In the week data collection began — the week of August 31–September 6 (week 5 of August) — The Blood of Dawnwalker debuted at No. 21 on YouTube's Global Top 100 chart by weekly content count. It also entered Twitch's weekly content count chart at No. 9, and ranked No. 83 on the domestic platform Chzzk.
▶ The Blood of Dawnwalker's ranking based on weekly content count for the week of August 31–September 6, 2026.
In the following week, September 7–13 (week 2 of September), the title climbed 7 spots to No. 14 on YouTube. On Twitch it slipped one spot to No. 10, while on Chzzk it jumped 21 spots to No. 62.
Meanwhile, SOOP has not yet created a dedicated category for the title, so no data was available for it during the tracking period.
▶ The Blood of Dawnwalker's ranking based on weekly content count for the week of September 7–13, 2026.
An analysis of global YouTube viewership over the most recent 9 days (September 3–11, 2026) found that the United States accounted for the largest share of peak viewers at 38.9%, followed by Brazil at 10.1%. Next came the United Kingdom (9.1%), Canada (7.2%), Poland (7.1%), Ukraine (6.6%), France (5.7%), Japan (5.5%), and Australia (5.1%).
In terms of video creation volume, the United States again led with 24.3%, followed by the United Kingdom (5.9%), Brazil (5.1%), Poland (5.0%), Germany (4.9%), India (4.8%), France (3.9%), Russia (3.0%), and Australia (2.8%).
▶ Country breakdown of The Blood of Dawnwalker content based on peak YouTube viewership.
▶ Country breakdown of The Blood of Dawnwalker content based on YouTube video creation count.
Twitch's language-based data showed a strong lean toward English-speaking audiences. By peak concurrent viewers, English led with 47.1%, followed by Russian (13.1%), German (12.7%), French (7.6%), Polish (6.2%), Portuguese (4.6%), Spanish (3.1%), Czech (2.3%), and Italian (1.7%).
By actual stream count, English also ranked first at 40.9%, followed by German (15.6%), Russian (11.3%), French (8.1%), Polish (7.7%), Spanish (4.0%), Czech (2.2%), Hungarian (1.9%), and Italian (1.9%).
▶ Language breakdown of The Blood of Dawnwalker content based on peak concurrent Twitch viewers.
▶ Language breakdown of The Blood of Dawnwalker content based on Twitch stream count.
World-Building Praised, Polish Still in Question
We also looked at user sentiment toward the new title through gameplay videos and viewer feedback from global creators.
First, Jake Baldino, a U.S.-based general gaming YouTuber with 495,000 subscribers, published a review video of The Blood of Dawnwalker on September 4.
In the video, Jake covered the vampire-ruled world and the story of protagonist Coen in detail. Citing the involvement of The Witcher 3 developers and Bandai Namco's publishing, he praised the unique vampire lore and the system that lets players use magic by day and vampiric powers by night.
However, he noted some drawbacks, including the sense of tedium from traversing a large but sparsely populated map, repetitive early combat, the absence of stealth elements, and fatigue-inducing mechanics.
Key Points - A vampire-ruled world set against a 14th-century Carpathian Mountains backdrop - An appealing character and story built around being both human and vampire - Involvement of The Witcher 3 developers and publishing by Bandai Namco - A combat system blending styles from The Witcher 3 - A distinctive mechanic of using magic by day and vampiric powers by night
Low Points - Tedious traversal caused by empty space relative to the size of the world - Repetitive early combat and fatigue from high enemy health pools - Lack of a stealth system and limited vampire social interaction - Tedium from a lack of daytime transportation options - Confusion around skill point spending's effect on time progression, and insufficient guidance
▶ Excerpted from Jake Baldino's video, summarized by ContentFlux AI.
Sentiment analysis of the video's YouTube comments found 51% positive, with neutral and negative each at 25%.
▶ Sentiment breakdown of comments on Jake Baldino's YouTube video.
Positive Summary - Praise for the immersive story, unique vampire theme, and time-management mechanic - Comparisons to The Witcher 3 and a fresh take on RPG design, along with high expectations for a sequel
Neutral Summary - High regard for narrative depth, but criticism of the time mechanic limiting exploration and of the combat system - Debate over AAA pricing for AA-level quality, and discussion of potential evolution into a trilogy
Negative Summary - Criticism of poor optimization relative to price, stuttering, and 30fps performance issues - Complaints about awkward camera lock-on and stiff controls, with recommendations to wait for a discount and patches
▶ Excerpted from comment sentiment on Jake Baldino's video, summarized by ContentFlux AI.
Next, IXBT Games, a Turkish general gaming YouTuber with 507,000 subscribers, released a detailed review after playing The Blood of Dawnwalker for eight hours.
IXBT Games noted the title as a highly anticipated project featuring key developers from The Witcher 3, but expressed overall disappointment with the monotonous quest structure and the overly simplistic, minigame-like combat mechanics.
The reviewer also pointed out that the 30-day time-limit system significantly restricts freedom of exploration, and cited technical shortcomings such as sparse open-world content, graphics and optimization flaws, and the lack of an official localization.
Key Points - High pre-release expectations due to involvement of key The Witcher 3 developers - A day-and-night dual mode system with a time-limit mechanic - An interesting structure for character growth and the magic system - Convenient exploration enabled by a fast-travel feature - Potential to use unofficial community translation patches
Low Points - Monotonous, repetitive quests and a story lacking immersion - Limitations of a combat system that feels as simple and repetitive as a minigame - An in-game time-limit element that significantly restricts freedom of play - Performance issues and bugs stemming from insufficient graphics and optimization - A relatively high price for the content on offer, and no official localization
▶ Excerpted from IXBT Games' video, summarized by ContentFlux AI.
Sentiment analysis of viewer comments on the video found negative sentiment dominant at 50%, followed by neutral at 30% and positive at 20%.
▶ Sentiment breakdown of comments on IXBT Games' YouTube video.
Positive Summary - Praise for the immersive story, engaging quests, and an atmosphere reminiscent of The Witcher series - High regard for the potential and narrative depth of the developer's strong debut title
Neutral Summary - Discussion of localization via user mods and ways to ease the time constraint, along with comparisons to other RPGs - Opinions split between calling it an underwhelming clone and finding real narrative depth through actual play
Negative Summary - Strong criticism of poor optimization, technical issues, and the lack of localization for certain languages - Disappointment over the restrictive forced time limit and game quality relative to price
▶ Excerpted from comment sentiment on IXBT Games' video, summarized by ContentFlux AI.
The Blood of Dawnwalker drew attention from the start thanks to the name recognition of The Witcher 3's developers. Indeed, its world and story were praised fairly consistently across creators.
That said, shortcomings also emerged around the time-limit system, optimization, and repetitive combat. A well-known development pedigree may give a game a head start, but it doesn't lower the bar by which it's ultimately judged.
With Rebel Wolves already underway on a sequel, all eyes are on whether the studio can, before long, shed the label of 'the studio behind The Witcher's developers' and become known instead as 'the studio behind Dawnwalker.'
This article is provided through a content partnership with GC. (ContentFlux Homepage)
