Get your key and loader
Checkout runs through our pay page and issues the licence key to the email address on the order. Watch your inbox (spam folder included) for the receipt and the key itself. If the receipt lands but the key does not arrive within a few minutes, reply to the receipt with your order ID and the ops desk will re-send.
Once the key is in hand, sign in at the account page and grab the loader from the downloads panel. Save it into its own folder — something like C:\Wardogs\ works well — because the next step needs a folder path, not a scattered download in your Downloads directory.
Prep Windows
Windows Defender will quarantine the loader on sight. That is expected behaviour for any kernel-level tool and does not mean the file is broken; the full reasoning lives in the antivirus false positive guide. To stop Defender eating the file every time we push a patch, add the loader folder as an exclusion:
- Open Settings and go to Update & Security
- Click Windows Security in the left panel
- Open Virus & threat protection
- Under Virus & threat protection settings, click Manage settings
- Scroll to Exclusions and click Add or remove exclusions
- Click Add an exclusion, choose Folder, and pick your loader folder
While you are inside Windows Security, confirm TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are switched on. EAC checks both, and Wardogs will not launch cleanly if either is missing. From Windows Security, open Device security, then Core isolation details. TPM status shows on the Security processor tile of the same page; Secure Boot shows under Secure boot on the main Device security screen. If Secure Boot reads Off, that is a UEFI setting and needs a reboot into BIOS to flip on.
Defender will flag the loader, and so will most third-party AVs. That is the nature of a kernel-mode tool touching a kernel-mode anti-cheat. If you are on Bitdefender, Kaspersky, ESET or similar, either add the same folder exclusion there or pause real-time protection while you inject.
Inject and play
Order matters here. Follow the sequence exactly on your first run:
- Make sure Wardogs is fully closed — check Task Manager if you are unsure no leftover process is still running
- Right-click the loader and pick Run as administrator
- Paste your licence key when the loader prompts (first run only; it caches after)
- Wait for the loader window to report Ready
- Launch Wardogs from Steam as normal
- Once you are at the main menu, press Insert to open the overlay
Insert is the default toggle for the in-game menu. You can rebind it inside the menu under Settings once you are loaded. If Insert opens nothing, the loader either did not finish injecting before Steam launched or Defender pulled the file mid-inject. Close the game, check the loader window for a red status line, and run the loader again.
First-run HWID lock happens on that first successful launch; the key binds to your current machine automatically. If you swap hardware later, the HWID reset guide covers what to send the ops desk.
Total time from click-to-buy to Insert-in-menu is well under five minutes on a stock Windows 11 machine.