Secure Boot and TPM
BULKHEAD’s 7 September enforcement policy says neither Secure Boot nor TPM is currently required for online play. That may change with advance notice. Steam separately discloses Elytra kernel-level anti-cheat.
Patch 0.11 addresses more GPU crashes
The Patch 0.11 announcement says more GPU crashes are addressed, without naming affected hardware, drivers or individual crash paths. It is a published fix claim rather than a benchmark or proof that every GPU crash is resolved.
Season 1 performance fixes
DLSS Frame Generation can now be switched off without restarting. The patch fixes two Frame Generation crash paths and several other crashes, reduces shadow-cache refreshes to address control-transition hitching, and adds clearer startup failure and recovery handling. These are published changes, not our own benchmark results.
Official PC requirements
These are BULKHEAD's own targets, read from Steam on September 8, 2026, not our benchmarks. Note the last row: unusually, the developer published what each tier is supposed to deliver, which turns a parts list into something you can actually judge.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 · 64-bit | Windows 11 · 64-bit |
| Processor | Core i5-8600 / Ryzen 5 3500 | Core i7-12700K / Ryzen 7 5700X |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GTX 1660 / Radeon RX 590 | RTX 3070 / Radeon RX 6700 XT |
| Storage | 50 GB available | 50 GB available |
| Network | Broadband internet | Broadband internet |
| Target result | 1080p Low @ 60fps (upscaled) | 1440p Medium @ 70fps+ (native), or 4K Medium @ 60fps+ (upscaled) |
Read the last row first
Most requirement tables tell you what to own and nothing about what you get. BULKHEAD published both. The minimum tier is explicitly an upscaled 1080p target — a GTX 1660 is not being promised native 1080p60. The recommended tier is the first native figure on the list, at 1440p Medium. If you are buying hardware for this game, those two notes matter more than the GPU names above them.
The two rows that are identical
Memory and storage do not move between tiers: 16 GB and 50 GB either way. So there is no lighter configuration to fall back on for RAM — 16 GB is the floor, not a comfort target, in a game that puts 100 players, vehicles, destruction and player-built structures in one match.
Windows only, and Valve now rates the Deck “Unsupported”
The store page lists Windows and nothing else: no macOS build and no Linux build at Early Access. What changed since this page first said Valve had issued no Deck verdict is that Valve has now issued one. The listing carries a STEAM DECK COMPATIBILITY panel reading **Unsupported** — the bottom of Valve's four-step scale, below Unknown, and a stated result rather than an absence of one. That is a stronger answer than this page previously gave, and it comes from Valve rather than from BULKHEAD. BULKHEAD has discussed Proton support publicly but has not shipped or dated it.
What the requirements do not tell you
The game is now in Early Access, but a requirements box still states developer targets rather than our own measurements. It says nothing about frame pacing in a full 100-player fight, about how much the destruction and building systems cost when a town comes down, about VRAM headroom at 1440p, or about CPU load with 100 players and proximity voice active. Those are measurable, and we intend to measure them — against a documented released build, with the method shown.
Before you install
Editorial preparation, not instruction. Leave more than 50 GB free — later client updates are not part of the listed base requirement. Update your graphics driver. Test your microphone before your first match rather than during it: local voice chat is a core mechanic here, not a bolted-on extra, so a dead mic costs you more than it would in most shooters.
If the game says your graphics driver is below the minimum supported version →
Common questions
Will a GTX 1660 really run it at 60fps?
BULKHEAD's own note says the minimum tier targets 1080p Low at 60fps upscaled — so 60fps with upscaling doing part of the work, at the lowest preset. That is the claim being made; nobody outside the studio has verified it at scale.
Is 16 GB of RAM enough?
It is what the developer lists for both tiers, so there is no published configuration that asks for more. Whether it is comfortable in a full match is not something anyone can answer from a store page.
Does WARDOGS run on Steam Deck?
No. Valve rates it Unsupported on the store listing, checked 13 September 2026 — the bottom of the four-step scale, and a stated verdict rather than a missing one. The store page lists Windows only, with no Linux build.
Does WARDOGS work on Linux or through Proton?
There is no native Linux build, and the Deck rating of Unsupported is the closest thing to an official answer on Proton, since the Deck runs on it. BULKHEAD has discussed Proton support without shipping or dating it. Reports from players running it anyway are not something this site has reproduced.
How much space do I need?
Steam lists 50 GB. Plan for more because later client updates are not part of that base requirement.
How big is the WARDOGS download?
Steam publishes a 50 GB storage requirement, not a download size, and those are not the same number — a compressed download is normally smaller than the space the installed game occupies. BULKHEAD has published no download figure, so 50 GB of free space is the requirement to plan against and the transfer size is not something this page can state.
Sources & verification
Hardware targets come from Steam. Season 1 and Patch 0.11 performance notes, and the Steam Deck compatibility rating, were checked on 13 September 2026. We have not benchmarked the game.
| Source | Type | Read |
|---|---|---|
| WARDOGS · Security & Enforcement, updated 7 September 2026 | Publisher stated | 2026-09-11 |
| BULKHEAD · Scheduled Maintenance & Patch 0.11, 12 September 2026Published 22:26:39 UTC. Schedules approximately one hour of maintenance from 08:00 UTC on 14 September and details server-browser, community-server, crash, capacity and economy-enforcement changes. Planned features are explicitly not part of this patch. | Publisher stated | 2026-09-14 |
| BULKHEAD · Pre-Load Live & Season 1 Changelog, 9 September 2026Published 22:46:09 UTC. Records server-browser, voice, stability, progression and economy changes from beta to Season 1. | Publisher stated | 2026-09-11 |
| Steam · WARDOGS official store listing | Publisher stated | 2026-09-11 |
| Team17 · WARDOGS game overviewSays WARDOGS is out now in Steam Early Access and available on GeForce NOW. This is cloud availability, not a native macOS or Linux build. | Publisher stated | 2026-09-11 |
| Steam · WARDOGS store app record, categories and requirementsReports achievements.total 10 and marks exactly one highlighted achievement as hidden: That was rude has hidden: 1 while the other nine have hidden: 0. It also states 50 GB minimum storage, unchanged. Steam Achievements is among the app's categories; Family Sharing is not. The same endpoint listed Family Sharing on 15 and 17 September 2026 and does not on 19–21 September, and the served store page agrees — the before-and-after reads are logged in RESEARCH.md. BULKHEAD's official updates account separately says the feature was disabled because accounts were using it to bypass bans and cheat; that statement is cited on the affected pages rather than inferred from this store record. | Publisher stated | 2026-09-21 |
