System requirements and performance
Below are the requirements from the WARDOGS Steam page as of 14 October 2026, plus what we know about performance from our own play and from player reports. The game is Windows-only and 64-bit.
In short
Section titled “In short”- Minimum: GTX 1660 / RX 590, i5-8600 / Ryzen 5 3500, 16 GB of RAM, 50 GB of disk. That targets 1080p on low settings at 60 FPS with upscaling.
- Recommended: RTX 3070 / RX 6700 XT with an i7-12700K / Ryzen 7 5700X — 1440p on medium, 70+ FPS native.
- The anti-cheat runs at kernel level (Elytra). If the game fails to start with a WD-L0xx code, begin with the launch errors guide.
Minimum and recommended
Section titled “Minimum and recommended”| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10, 64-bit | Windows 11, 64-bit |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-8600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3500 | Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X |
| RAM | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 590 | NVIDIA RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT |
| Disk | 50 GB | 50 GB |
| Network | broadband internet | broadband internet |
| Target | 1080p, low settings, 60 FPS upscaled | 1440p, medium, 70+ FPS native, or 4K, medium, 60+ FPS upscaled |
Upscaling means DLSS, FSR or similar: the game renders at a lower resolution and scales the image up. Without it, Bulkhead does not promise 60 frames on the minimum spec.
Also worth knowing
Section titled “Also worth knowing”- Kernel-level anti-cheat. The Steam page flags “Uses Kernel Level Anti-Cheat” (Elytra) and requires agreeing to a separate EULA. The anti-cheat installs with the game; a broken install is the most common cause of the WD-L004 and WD-L014 errors.
- Languages. The interface is translated into Russian and 12 other languages; voice-over is English only.
- PC only. Bulkhead has said PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions will not come before 2028 — see What WARDOGS is.
What affects FPS and stability
Section titled “What affects FPS and stability”Only things we have checked ourselves or that are confirmed by Steam reports. There is no universal “+30 FPS” settings list.
- Ghosting with DLSS and DLAA on NVIDIA cards is a known bug. The workaround via the preset in the NVIDIA app is in a separate guide.
- 5–30 second freezes with the CPU at 100% are an open issue with no fix; what is known is collected in the bug list.
- Dynamic resolution is toggled in the graphics settings; in the settings file it is the
bUseDynamicResolutionline inGameUserSettings.ini. If the image sharpness keeps shifting, check whether it is on. - The settings file lives at
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Wardogs\Saved\Config\WindowsClient\GameUserSettings.ini. How to edit and reset it safely is in the bug list.