Somewhere in the early hours of The Blood of Dawnwalker, tucked into the silver mines you pass through during the prologue, sits a bright red tube that has no business being in a game set in 14th-century Europe. Printed across it, more than once, are the words “Do not use this asset!” A developer clearly did use it, and players spotted the slip within hours of launch.
Quick answer: The red “Do not use this asset!” object is a leftover placeholder standing in for a log inside the prologue’s silver mine. It is still present in the launch version, and Rebel Wolves has not confirmed whether it will be removed.
What the “Do Not Use This Asset” object is
The object is a placeholder, the kind of temporary stand-in that studios drop into a level while the real prop is still being built. This one is a long, tube-shaped model painted bright red and stamped with the warning “Do not use this asset!” repeated across its surface. The repeated text is a deliberate signal from whoever created it, meant to stop anyone from shipping it by accident.
Judging by its shape, the placeholder was almost certainly holding the spot for a log. At some point a real log model was supposed to replace it. That swap never happened, so the red tube stayed put and made it all the way into the final release.
Where to find it in the prologue
The placeholder appears inside a silver mine during the game’s prologue, so you run into it very early rather than deep into the campaign. It stands out immediately because the saturated red clashes with the muted medieval setting around it. Nothing about the mine hides it, which is why players surfaced it almost as soon as the game went live.
| Detail | Description |
|---|---|
| What it is | Placeholder asset, likely standing in for a log |
| Appearance | Bright red tube marked “Do not use this asset!” multiple times |
| Location | A silver mine reached during the prologue |
| Status | Present in the launch version |
Why players want it to stay
The mistake caught on fast after someone posted evidence to the r/DawnwalkerOfficial subreddit, and the reaction has been affectionate rather than critical. The replies filled up with requests for Rebel Wolves to leave the red tube exactly where it is. For a lot of players, it is a small, human reminder that real people hand-built these locations, and that even a polished launch has rough edges.
There is a counterweight to that goodwill. Rebel Wolves may worry about newcomers who stumble onto a glaring red placeholder minutes into the game and read it as a sign of sloppy work. Whether the object survives comes down to how much the studio wants to lean into the joke.
Will it be removed?
No removal has been confirmed. The Blood of Dawnwalker has run into PC optimization problems in its first days on sale, and Rebel Wolves has acknowledged those issues. When patches for the performance troubles arrive, the placeholder could quietly be swapped out at the same time. If you want to see the red tube for yourself, the safest move is to look now, before any update lands.
Despite the early hiccups, the studio’s debut has done well on Steam, peaking above 64,000 concurrent players. The Blood of Dawnwalker is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it casts you as Coen, a young man caught between human days and vampire nights as he fights to save his family.
