When is the Den of Wolves release date? Den of Wolves is a co-op heist game developed by 10 Chambers, a Swedish studio comprised of veteran developers behind Payday: The Heist, Payday 2, and GTFO. The game was first revealed at The Game Awards 2023 with a strange trailer that doesn’t give much information away, so don’t feel too bad if you came away with more questions than answers.
Den of Wolves incorporates the studio’s expert knowledge of co-op games and the heist genre, blending it with sci-fi elements to create something new. The developers want to evolve the heist genre by focusing on much more than simply robbing banks, that’s why they spent a lot of time crafting the game’s setting. Here’s what you need to know about the Den of Wolves release date, including information about the story, gameplay, and more.
Den of Wolves release date estimate
Den of Wolves doesn’t have a release date right now, however, we don’t expect to see the game launch until Q4 2025 at the earliest. Based on what has been shown so far, there’s a good chance we won’t see any extended looks at in-game footage until Q2 2024.
10 Chambers has revealed that Den of Wolves is going to arrive on Steam Early Access first, giving players a chance to provide valuable feedback as the developers continue to work on the game.
They have also confirmed it has been designed to run on consoles, though we don’t know if that means the game is coming to both Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. There’s still a chance Den of Wolves could become a console exclusive, though the odds of that are unlikely.
Den of Wolves reveal trailer
The trailer opens with a scene of a man in a business suit standing behind a protected window while he interrogates someone sitting in a chair. The man in the suit is referred to as Mr. Bowman by his AI assistant, he’s reminded about a restaurant reservation he has later that day. Mr. Bowman cancels his reservation, asking his assistant to reset the procedure.
The assistant warns that continued neuro-prodding may severely damage the suspect, but Mr. Bowman cuts it off mid-sentence, prompting the assistant to reset the procedure once again. We hear the assistant agree to his command, as another robot-like voice can be heard saying “Inject.”. The trailer cuts to in-game footage, presumably of the person in a chair’s experience before being captured.
It appears the person in the chair shot someone as they snuck around a dark building. The camera pans to the man in the chair as Mr. Bowman introduces himself, bragging that the procedure forces the person’s subconscious to reveal details about their attempted heist in the Akajima District. Mr. Bowman asks the person what he hoped to find in the Nexus Sentinel. Initially, the person resists, but Mr. Bowman assures them he will find out eventually.
Mr. Bowman states he knows how the person discovered the Akajima vault, asking them what they were searching for. “A key,” the man in the chair replies, much to Mr. Bowman’s confusion. Mr. Bowman asks what the key is for, but it appears the man has changed. Laughing maniacally, he reveals that the key isn’t for something, it’s for someone.
The camera pans briefly to a man frozen in a cryogenic chamber before switching to a spider-like device breaking into a vault. When the vault pops open, the man in the chair stands up for the first time and walks towards the camera. As the camera pans, we see Mr. Bowman trapped in the same cryogenic chamber we saw earlier, except now the tables have turned.
Mr. Bowman appears to be struggling as he is trapped in the chamber, while the man he was interrogating is now facing him, along with his three friends. The man tells Mr. Bowman that he has been caught in the Den of Wolves. It’s also revealed that each member of the heist gang is wearing a mask, similar to those worn in the Payday games.
Den of Wolves setting
As mentioned earlier, 10 Chambers has spent a lot of time creating the Den of Wolves world. Ulf Andersson, founder and game director, stated in the game’s press release: “You can only rob so many banks. Den of Wolves will have a wider range of heisting, corporate espionage, sabotage, assassinations… the sci-fi theme lets us try many things.”.
Den of Wolves is set in Midway City, an unregulated metropolis founded by big corporations. Before Midway City, the global economy collapsed due to the unstoppable hacking power of deep learning AI, forcing the dollar into freefall. To stop this from happening again, powerful investment firms helped develop a network architecture that couldn’t be accessed by AI. The solution was to create biological systems based on the human brain to transmit data and hold storage.
Den of Wolves gameplay
While we’ve seen barely any in-game footage of Den of Wolves, there are some elements we know about thanks to the game’s press release. Simon Viklund, co-founder, and narrative and audio director, revealed: “The game isn’t open-world, but we still value worldbuilding enormously, and the narrative we’ve built around the island is vast. We want Midway City to feel like a believable city of the near future, where late-stage capitalism has gone rampant and corporations set the rules”.
The Payday games were also mission-based, so it’s not surprising to see the devs have stuck to its tried and tested formula. That said, there appears to be a heavy focus on the narrative this time around, giving your squad of criminals a chance to make a name for themselves in Midway City. Viklund continues: “As a player, you reside in the city’s underground domains without any real identity or papers, building your allegiances to become a criminal entrepreneur on Midway City’s black market of gig jobs.”
It sounds like players will work their way up the criminal ladder, starting with low-end jobs robbing small businesses before setting sights on the game’s big corporations. If the trailer is anything to go by, the Akajima District break-in sounds like a coordinated attack on a huge company, so expect areas like that to show up near the end of the game.
That’s all we know about the Den of Wolves release date so far, but stay tuned as we’ll update this guide as soon as we learn anything new. Don’t forget to take a look at our best multiplayer games list if you want to experience something similar. In the meantime, why not check out our list of the best upcoming games as 2024 is set to be a strong year in games.