The Blood of Dawnwalker is getting a 60fps mode at launch after all

Rebel Wolves has confirmed that The Blood of Dawnwalker will receive a Performance Mode targeting 60fps on consoles through its Day One patch.

That is a last-minute change from the game’s original console performance plan, which offered Quality and Balanced modes but no 60fps option. The Performance Mode will be available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X|S when the game launches next week.

A hefty pre-launch patch

The updated console review build went live on 25 August at 6 p.m. CEST. Rebel Wolves says it fixes around 1,400 issues identified during development, covering combat, abilities, controls, stability, quests, visuals and animation.

Among the more serious fixes are crashes and infinite loading screens connected to combat, fast travel, save files, shrines and specific quests. The patch also resolves progression blockers, including situations where characters failed to spawn, objectives did not update or important encounters could not be completed.

Some of the less dramatic fixes are still welcome. Coen can no longer attack people during dialogue, torches should no longer randomly disappear and foliage should stop stretching across the screen like the game has briefly developed a fear of trees.

The update also fixes an issue where changing upscaling quality had no effect on the base rendering resolution, while Xbox and PlayStation builds receive additional fixes for rendering, memory and performance problems.

PC players get their own improvements

Rebel Wolves plans to release an updated PC review build later this week, most likely on Friday or Saturday.

The PC update includes performance work aimed at reducing GPU hitches, improving high-settings performance and smoothing out global draw distances. It also addresses Unreal Engine 5.5 shader-building issues and adds upscaling solutions for the Windows version.

Frame Generation is also included in the PC update, which should make movement feel smoother on compatible hardware. The developer says the listed PC and console fixes, along with additional changes, will form part of the launch patch.

What is The Blood of Dawnwalker?

The Blood of Dawnwalker is the debut game from Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by former CD Projekt Red developers. It is an open-world action RPG set in a dark medieval Europe where vampires have taken control of the region of Vale Sangora.

Players control Coen, a young man who becomes a Dawnwalker after being infected with vampirism. The transformation gives him supernatural abilities, but also creates a time limit: the game’s story unfolds across a fixed number of days and nights, with quests and events changing depending on how players spend that time.

Our opinion

A 60fps Performance Mode arriving in the Day One patch is good news, but it also makes the timing of this update rather revealing. Console players will need to download the patch to get the mode that many would consider essential for a combat-heavy action RPG.

The more encouraging part is the sheer range of fixes. A patch addressing progression blockers, crashes, infinite loading and broken combat interactions is exactly what a pre-launch build needs, particularly for a game built around a tightly managed world where missing one quest trigger could have consequences far beyond a funny animation glitch.

The real test will be whether the launch build feels stable while preserving the game’s unusual time-based structure. If Rebel Wolves can deliver the ambitious version of The Blood of Dawnwalker it has described — without players spending their limited days waiting for a loading screen — the extra work may prove worthwhile.