Joystiq

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm public beta ends March 1

David Hinkle — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:00:00 EST

If you've been enjoying the StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm public beta, then we're afraid we've got some bad news - it all comes to an end on March 1. Blizzard has announced the end of the open beta, which concludes just under two weeks prior to the launch of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm on March 12.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm is the second volley in Blizzard's planned three-game delivery for the sequel to its highly-regarded real-time strategy series. We were able to spend some time with Heart of the Swarm last month, feel free to read our impressions - or, if you just want something pretty to look at, check out the game's introductory cinematic.

Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm public beta ends March 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New York Times: Steam Big Picture public beta starts Monday

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:00:00 EST

Last August, we found out that Steam's Big Picture interface would be moving into its beta phase "soon," but we never expected it would be, like, soon. It is Valve after all, and we never figured that Big Picture's public beta would happen in our lifetimes, let alone on Monday, September 10, like the New York Times says.

For those of you who haven't been following this song's bouncing ball, allow us to refresh your memory: Steam's Big Picture interface is a custom UI designed specifically to make Valve's all-encompassing digital storefront more user-friendly on televisions. It's being designed with controller-based navigation in mind and would represent Valve's first formal step into the living room. Whether Monday's testing is truly public or invitation based like its Community beta remains to be seen.

New York Times: Steam Big Picture public beta starts Monday originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation All-Stars public beta now accepting applications

Mike Schramm — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:00:00 EST

The PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale public beta starts on September 11, lasting one week to September 18. Anyone interested in being a part of the frantic action can sign up on the PSN beta site right now.

Players chosen will be notified via email, get a voucher code for the download on either PS3 or the PS Vita, and receive "test night information." Presumably, developer SuperBot will aim to test specific heroes, modes, or stages, so it'll direct players that way.

If you don't make this early cut, you'll have to wait until the full game arrives on November 20.

PlayStation All-Stars public beta now accepting applications originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation All-Stars public beta hits this fall, early access for Plus subs

Jessica Conditt — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:30:00 EST

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will begin its public beta this fall, with early access to PlayStation Plus members. Over the coming weeks Sony plans to gradually expand its early development beta, sending out more codes.

A group of players have already participated in the early beta, leading to this leak of characters and stages that Superbot Entertainment president Chan Park says was "unexpected and unintended."

"We've enjoyed reading all of the fan reaction and are thrilled that so many of you are excited to learn more our character roster and level mash-ups, however we are still in development and the leaked content does not fully represent the final product nor the incredible efforts that were made to make these elements truly spectacular," Park says.

The next official character announcement for PlayStation All-Stars will be at Gamescom, which begins August 15 in Cologne, Germany.

PlayStation All-Stars public beta hits this fall, early access for Plus subs originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Starhawk beta goes public starting with PSN Plus subscribers next week

David Hinkle — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:40:00 EST

For the last few month, LightBox has been running a Starhawk private beta, which just concluded on January 3. Like a big bouncer guarding the door of your city's hot new club, the developer barred entry to all Joe and Jane Schmoes looking to get their taste of what's to come. Boys and girls, soon you'll have your chance: the beta's going public.

PlayStation Plus subscribers get first crack at the public demo starting next week on January 17 for the US and January 18 for Europe, PlayStation Blog reports. If you picked up Uncharted 3, you'll get a crack at the public beta two weeks later: January 31 in the US and February 1 in Europe. Finally, if you've got a regular ol' free PSN account, you can jump in on February 21, when the beta is open to all US users; European users get in on the following day.

If you were one of the lucky few to get into the private beta, you'll have access to the public beta starting next week, granted you didn't erase your original beta files.

Starhawk beta goes public starting with PSN Plus subscribers next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Starhawk dev rethinking DLC strategy: It 'might be surprising'

Jessica Conditt — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Starhawk will enter public beta soon in North America, Europe, Japan, Korea and Latin America, senior produer Harvard Bonin tells Respawn Action. The closed beta ended Jan. 3 and Bonin says the mix of veteran Warhawk and new players caught a lot of unsurprising bugs and balance issues, and that update 1.2 will fix a lot of these.

There are plans for "a bunch of" free DLC that "might be surprising," Bonin says, although he adds that he'd be "happy to take your money" for some of the planned content. "We rethought our DLC strategy and we'll reveal more about it as we get closer to release," he says.

More information on the Starhawk public beta will come "very soon," Bonin says, and the game will release "when it's damn good and ready."

Starhawk dev rethinking DLC strategy: It 'might be surprising' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diablo 3 'external' beta coming Q3 2011

Justin McElroy — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:15:00 EST

Wrap your mind around that headline: Some time this year, specifically between July and September, someone that doesn't work for Blizzard is going to be putting some heavy time into Diablo 3 ... or at least that's the plan. Here's the full quote from Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime, speaking today during Activision's quarterly earnings call, for fear you won't believe it unless it's straight from the source:

"We began internal company-wide testing last week," Morhaime confirmed. "The game looks great, and we're currently targeting a Q3 launch for external beta testing."

Though Morhaime says the team's working to get the game out before 2012, he stopped short of making any official release date announcement. Surprise.

Diablo 3 'external' beta coming Q3 2011 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 May 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Battlefield Play4Free plans staggered launch, open beta on April 4

Mike Schramm — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:30:00 EST

Joystiq got to see Battlefield Play4Free in action late last night at GDC 2011 and, while a full interview is still incoming, we were able to get details on the plans for next month's beta launch. Right now the game is in closed beta, and we were told that at peak times, developer EAsy has "a few thousand" players enjoying the game so far.

On March 31, EA plans to send out codes for the beta to players of other Battlefield games, including the also free-to-play Battlefield Heroes, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Then, on April 2, invites will go out to selected followers on Twitter and Facebook, and finally, on April 4, EA will open the game up for a public beta, with an official launch later on this year.

So mark your calendars: Assuming everything goes according to EA's plan, you could be sniping fools and earning battlefunds as soon as 4/4. Stay tuned for more about the title from the hands-on event.

Battlefield Play4Free plans staggered launch, open beta on April 4 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Killzone 3 public beta starts October 25 in the US

David Hinkle — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:20:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Guerrilla Games' Killzone The Tres is set to unleash a public beta on October 25, the PlayStation Blog promises. Of course, there's a catch: in order to get in on it, you'll need to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber before the beta rolls out, and download a custom Killzone 3 XMB theme, which'll release on October 19. The first 10,000 to download the theme will get access -- 5,000 from the US, 5,000 from Europe.

You'll also want to keep an eye on your email inbox, because Sony plans to mail out codes on October 25 to the lucky 10,000 who snagged the XMB theme first. To help tide you over, Sony's got a new trailer, which you can check out past the break.

Continue reading Killzone 3 public beta starts October 25 in the US

Killzone 3 public beta starts October 25 in the US originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gears of War 3 gains multiplayer beta in 2011 'featuring dedicated servers'

Christopher Grant — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Who said delays weren't good for something? In an effort to fill the intervening months between Gears of War 3's one-time April 2011 release and its new "holiday season" 2011 release, publisher Microsoft issued the following terse announcement: "We plan to host a public multiplayer beta for Gears of War 3 in 2011 featuring dedicated servers." With all that extra development time between release and the beta, Epic should be able to implement feedback from gamers into the final boxed product.

We don't have many other details regarding the beta, but we do have a preview of the game's multiplayer component, in which lead level designer Jim Brown told us that dedicated servers should level the playing field for gamers and help the dev circumvent the issues Gears of War 2 experienced at launch.

Gears of War 3 gains multiplayer beta in 2011 'featuring dedicated servers' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures public beta accepting recruits

Randy Nelson — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Launching on September 15, Sony Online Entertainment's free-to-play MMO Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures has gone into public beta. You can head to the official site (linked below) and play right now. Three character races are available, but you are not (able to be) a Jedi ... yet.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures public beta accepting recruits originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don't get fooled again, watch this tutorial for the R.U.S.E. public beta

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST

When we last played R.U.S.E., we weren't shy about expressing our initial difficulty with the game's steep learning curve. After all, the game is a deep real-time strategy title and still in beta (set for release on June 8). It's extra nice, then, that senior producer Mathieu Girard and creative director Alexis Le Dressay created this eight-minute-long walkthrough of the various gameplay options at your fingertips in the public beta.

From faking army advances to the importance of reconnaissance, Girard and Le Dressay will have you up to speed on the forthcoming game's variety of tactics in no time. There are even subtitles for those among us who don't speak French-accented English or haven't played Heavy Rain -- talk about accessible!

Gallery: R.U.S.E.

Don't get fooled again, watch this tutorial for the R.U.S.E. public beta originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RUSE June 3 release date is no trick; beta next week

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST

If you were paying close attention to Twitter this morning, you might've noticed Ubisoft community developer Aymeric Evennou noting that a R.U.S.E. public beta would be strategically moving itself onto Steam on March 9. More importantly, though, if you were looking way too closely into the French publisher's YouTube video details, it's possible you would've seen this little tidbit about the game's release date: "R.U.S.E. will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on June 3, 2010." (June 3, a Thursday, is likely the European retail release date. We've contacted Ubisoft to confirm the North American date.)

From Ubisoft ... ahem ... tricking us into believing the game would see release in Q1 2010, to a private beta last year, and now the announcement that we'll get a chance to play the game next week, it's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for us over the last year at Joystiq. Thankfully, Ubi also released five minutes of soothing fan service in video form that we've embedded after the break for you (and for our own well-being).

Gallery: R.U.S.E.

[Via Big Download]

Continue reading RUSE June 3 release date is no trick; beta next week

RUSE June 3 release date is no trick; beta next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: The Love Beta is out (or 'We feel like playing Love -- and now we can!')

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:00:00 EST

Our illicit affair with pseudo-MMO Love has officially begun, with today marking the the opening of the game's public, but paid, beta. The paid aspect of the beta is minimal, we should note -- a €3/30 days price hardly seems like a lot. As the game's sole developer Eskil Steenberg explained to us in an email after last week's news announcing the public beta, "The Beta is open to everyone, but unfortunately I need funds to run the server farm, so it will cost 3 Euros to get 30 days of access." Moreover, Steenberg stands to make no profits from the beta entry fee, telling us he simply needs "to afford the bandwidth and hardware to keep it running." We're pretty okay with it, if only for the fact that we get to tell people that we're paying such a low price for Love.

PSA: The Love Beta is out (or 'We feel like playing Love -- and now we can!') originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MAG Public Beta enrollment begins

Andrew Yoon — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST

A lucky few individuals will discover this invite for the MAG beta in their inboxes. The e-mail includes a unique code used to access a closed application form. According to the beta enrollment page, Sony "will be adding people in waves." If you don't see an invite in your inbox right now, don't worry: you may be invited later. "If you do not receive an invite for the first wave you may still be invited in a following MAG Public Beta wave."

Sony has already conducted a closed beta for MAG for over a month. The expansion of the beta to the public gives us hope that maybe -- just maybe -- we'll be able to see MAG's 256-player online battles hitting the PS3 sooner rather than later.

MAG Public Beta enrollment begins originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOCOM pre-order comes with 3 beta keys

Ross Miller — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, First Person Shooters

click to embiggen

You and a friend can now join in the SOCOM Confrontation beta just by bullying some other friend to pre-order the game from Gamestop. According to an email sent out to the PlayStation Underground members, a Confrontation pre-order will net you participation in the public beta and the ability to invite two friends for free. If you read the fine print, however, the deal is rendered immediately null and void should either party decide to end the friendship. Sony keeps a very strict "friends only" policy. The public beta begins September 1 for pre-orders and September 8 for Qore subscribers.

[Thanks, Noshino]

SOCOM pre-order comes with 3 beta keys originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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