Wardogs will punish players who use Potato Mode on a PC that doesn't need it

Bulkhead, the studio behind Wardogs, has announced that it will ban players who use one of the game's own graphics presets to gain an advantage. As reported by Vandal, the target is anyone who enables the so-called Potato Mode, an option designed for low-end hardware, while actually owning a PC capable of displaying higher graphics. The measure will take effect with Season 3, which begins on November 12.

The decision matters because it breaks with a habit taken for granted across the entire genre. Lowering graphics quality to gain frames per second or to clear the screen of distracting effects is common practice in Counter-Strike 2, Valorant and PUBG, and nobody considers it cheating. Wardogs, which passed three million units sold in September after its Steam Early Access launch, now wants to draw a line between optimizing and abusing. And it is doing so over a tool the game itself offers in its menu.

What you need to know

• What gets punished: using Potato Mode to improve visibility or boost FPS when your hardware can run the game at higher graphics settings.
• What Potato Mode is: a preset that sits alongside the usual High or Medium options and strips out effects and details to reach or exceed 60 FPS on modest PCs.
• When it starts: with Season 3, on November 12. From then on, Bulkhead says it can detect whether whoever enables it has hardware that doesn't need it.
• Announced punishment: a ban from the game, according to Vandal's report on the studio's statement.
• Commercial context: Wardogs sold more than three million units in its first month of Early Access, so the measure affects a huge player base.

What changes and who it affects

Until now, Potato Mode was just another option in Wardogs' graphics settings. Any player could select it with a single click, without touching config files or installing anything external. That is what makes the announcement so striking: the studio isn't going after third-party software or a modified client, but the use of a legitimate feature they themselves designed and left available.

Bulkhead's argument is that the preset exists so people with weak hardware can play at a decent frame rate, not so someone with a powerful graphics card can wipe out vegetation, shadows and particles and see opponents more clearly than everyone else. From Season 3 onward, the studio claims it will be able to check whether a player's hardware justifies that mode. The source doesn't detail what method will be used for that detection or whether there will be warnings before a ban, so it's worth waiting to see how it's applied in practice.

The precedent being broken

On the competitive PC circuit, playing on low settings is almost a cultural norm. Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant professionals have spent years configuring their rigs to prioritize FPS and visual clarity over any aesthetic effect, and tournaments allow it without issue. Wardogs introduces a new distinction: the option is valid only if you need it. That boundary between need and advantage is blurry, and that is where the risk of this measure lies.

Our take

Here at the Underworld Lordz newsroom, we understand the problem Bulkhead wants to tackle. If Potato Mode removes so many elements that whoever uses it sees enemies where others see bushes, the mode creates a real asymmetry, and in a competitive shooter that is poison. The diagnosis is correct. What we think is a mistake is the remedy. If a menu option breaks the balance, the solution is to redesign it or limit what it removes, not to threaten to ban whoever presses a button the game itself puts in front of them.

For competitive players, the measure creates an uncomfortable uncertainty. What about someone with a mid-range PC that, according to the game, should run fine but drops below 60 FPS in real matches? Or someone playing on a laptop who switches between plugged in and battery power? Punishing based on hardware instead of behavior opens the door to false positives, and a wrongly applied ban does far more damage to trust in the game than a handful of players with potato graphics.

For content creators, the issue is even more delicate. Many of us stream live on powerful rigs that nonetheless have to split resources between the game, capture and encoding. Lowering graphics is a genuine production need, not a search for an advantage. If Bulkhead doesn't distinguish between the two cases, it will end up banning precisely the people who give its game the most exposure. Our recommendation until the studio clarifies its criteria: avoid Potato Mode in Wardogs if your rig can handle the Low preset, and document your settings in case you need to appeal.

What do you think?

Some will argue that clean competition justifies a heavy hand, while others will consider it absurd to punish players for using an official option. We lean toward the latter, but we want to know what the community thinks. Do you think Bulkhead is right to ban players for Potato Mode, or should it fix the mode instead of going after those who use it? Tell us in the team chat or on our Discord.