beta

The closed beta for CD Projekt RED’s Gwent started up this week. The stand alone version of the fast-paced card game that can be played within The Witcher 3: Wild …
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Registration has now begun for the upcoming closed beta for Pit People. The turn-based strategy game marks the fourth release from indie darlings The Behemoth, best known for their smash …
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Yesterday, Major Nelson announced on the Xbox Daily show that Smite would be part of the Summer Spotlight. On July 8th, Smite will transition from closed beta to open beta. …
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Crytek’s free-to-play military shooter Warface is now available to download for all Xbox Live Gold subscribers as the game entered open beta earlier this week. The beta will carry …
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The ambitious game creation tool Project Spark has had its beta extended beyond the confines of the PC and onto the Xbox One starting today. Project Spark on the …
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The Project Spark beta is currently only available for Windows 8 users lucky enough to receive a key, but it’s about to make the jump over to consoles next …
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The forthcoming free-to-play action RPG, Ascend: Hand of Kul, continues its quiet march toward an inevitable launch date. Since early July, players who were fortunate to score a coveted spot in the closed beta have plummeted the depths of Signal Studios’ impressive landscape, and clashed against one another in the name of their respective gods. As we previously reported, plans are well underway to roll the beta into open release, starting with the latest content update.

Signal Studios’ President D.R. Albright III took to the developer’s blog to announce the update as version 1.1, the changes/features/fixes therein, and outline the future of Ascend. “The 1.1 phase will be released to those who have already been playing first,” he wrote. “Within a few days after release, we will be expanding the beta in larger groups, approximately 15k players is the goal.” If you’re not yet involved in the beta, the next round of invitations could remedy that – head over to official registration site to toss your name into the hat.

For those already engrossed in the ongoing Crusade for total dominion, you’ll be happy to know the playable world has now been expanded, including a long-awaited crack at one towering titan. Additional considerations aimed at improving player experience include: lowered repair costs, spells automatically receiving legacy status, pre/post invader status screens, increased difficulty during boss engagements and additional stats to pore over with each new item acquisition.

“We also fixed over 800 bugs since we last met and probably introduced a few hundred more :)! Let’s all hop on this beta and report any issues to the forums to help improve the public release,” Albright added. “Rest assured, back at the mothership we are already working diligently towards the next phase of Ascend, which is the full public release!” The full collection of changes can be found in list form – everyone’s favorite form – right after the jump.

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The forthcoming free-to-play action-RPG Ascend: Hand of Kul has finally opened its doors for a closed beta. Developer Signal Studios today announced that would-be testers who previously applied to participate …
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The closed beta for The Behemoth’s forthcoming Battleblock Theater finally has a release date. Those lucky enough to grab one of the coveted 10,000 spots can expect to get started in two short weeks, beginning February 28. Selected beta testers for Battleblock Theater will be receiving email notifications from The Behemoth in waves, so if you applied and haven’t yet been contacted, don’t fret just yet. There’s still hope.

All last week, XBLAFans ran a contest in partnership with The Behemoth to guarantee a certain number of beta spots for eager volunteers. In case you missed it, there’s still time to sign up and hope your number gets pulled. All you have to do is head over to The Behemoth’s official beta page, peruse the regulations and, if you meet the criteria, fill out the form. If you’re interested in getting your hands on Battleblock Theater before anyone else in the world, but not sure what to expect, check out the official trailer below.

[springboard type=”video” id=”668499″ player=”xbla001″ width=”640″ height=”400″ ]

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The Behemoth recently announced that they are looking for 10,000 players to participate in a closed beta test of their upcoming Battleblock Theater beginning sometime in either February or March. The beta program will give willing testers access to story levels, the level editor and a few levels of all arena modes. However, we’ve not had a lot of details on what these arena modes actually are, until now that is. For The Behemoth have just published some details on their developer’s blog on the multiplayer games we can look forward to:

• Soul -Steal enemy souls and run away. Stomp, punch, kick or kill your opponent to capture their soul. The longer you have their sweet, sweet spirit, the more points you or your team will get. Don’t forget that you’ve got a soul too, so you better make sure that doesn’t get stolen in the process!
• Muckle – Beat and kill the enemy team. It’s that simple. One, two and land those punches. Give them a good uppercut. Use those weapons you earned. Get points for being the most powerful team.
• Challenge – Score the best time. How fast can you go through a level? Or a better question would be: How much faster can you go than others? Prove to everyone that you’re the best of the best at finishing before anyone else… In this context it’s a good thing!
• King of the Hill – Stand on the crown blocks. They’re golden and shiny. You can’t miss them. The only problem is your enemies can’t miss them either! Keep your opponents off those blocks and do your best to stay on them for a multitude of points.
• Color the World – Color more blocks than the other team. You’ll start off with a “blank slate” of greyish blocks and end with a kaleidoscope of colors – unless you’re really good or really suck, then you’ll only see giant blocks of color.
• Grab the Gold – Grab more gold than the other team. A floating whale spits out gold. Your objective is to take those pieces to the safe. It’s that easy. Just remember to keep them safe from your opponents!
• Ball Game – Get the ball in the basket. When you play this mode, you’ll be grabbing, passing and dunking in no time! Just remember to put the ball into your opponent’s hoop and not your own!
• Horse – Ride the horse to the stables. You’ll have a chance to use your sneaky skills to steal the other team’s horse. Lead the horse all the way back to your own stable to get your haul of points.

You can sign up for the beta here, but to guarantee a spot then best look out for one of our daily giveaway contests. Hit the jump for some screenshots of all modes described above.

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