Rebel Wolves’ Dawnwalker favors dense, choice-driven open world

Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, Rebel Wolves’ creative director, said in a recent interview that The Blood of Dawnwalker will be an open-world RPG with a relatively limited scope, prioritizing dense content and player choice over large map size.

He described the game as a ‘narrative sandbox’ designed to concentrate quests, characters and consequences in a compact area so the world reacts to player decisions. The team plans a tighter environment that emphasizes player agency and character-driven stories rather than expanding the map for its own sake.

Tomaszkiewicz said the studio aims to ‘maximising player agency’ and to let players choose which plot lines to follow and see the world change in response. He noted recent role-playing games as examples of stronger choice-driven design and referenced Baldur’s Gate 3 as a title that pushes narrative freedom.

He pointed to earlier series such as Gothic as inspiration for building smaller worlds that feel lived-in through detail, quests and nonplayer characters. Tomaszkiewicz added that he prefers more condensed experiences, saying, ‘I feel tired with games that are way too big. I don’t have that much time, and I prefer more condensed experiences, but I still enjoy open worlds.’

Rebel Wolves has set a release date and is conducting playtests. Current internal tests average between 50 and 75 hours of playtime despite the game including a type of time-limit mechanic. The project centers on vampire-themed elements and aims to balance a condensed world with branching narrative outcomes and substantial playtime.

Tomaszkiewicz previously worked as lead quest designer on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. Rebel Wolves describes Dawnwalker as focusing on tighter quest design, character depth and meaningful choices that affect the game world.