The closed beta shut down on 24 August at 02:00 UTC. Over three days about half a million different people tried the game — and entry was not open: a pre-order or the Steam Playtest lottery, nothing else.
Who to compare it with
On concurrent players WARDOGS passed Squad and Arma — games that have held this niche for years. For a project that did not buy slots at the big industry showcases (and built its own show instead), that is the strongest argument it could bring to launch.
What it means for 10 September
Half a million people who tried it is not a promise of the same number at launch: the test was free and the game is not. But it answers the question of whether an audience exists — it does, and it came back all three days: the curve grew until the last evening.
We measure the player count with our own collector every ten minutes, so on 10 September the difference between "tried" and "stayed" will be visible on the stats page.