Betawatch

This week, Betawatch says farewell to The Secret World, which launched its headstart program this morning and will open the floodgates to everyone on July 3rd. We've also secured a launch date for Guild Wars 2 (August 28th); the final beta event will be the weekend of July 20th. And sandbox fans can look forward to The Repopulation, which has just begun alpha testing.

This was a week of beta teases from some of the other games we're awaiting. We had a look at City of Steam's alpha, Firefall announced half a million beta registrations, Cryptic's lifetime subbers are set to receive Neverwinter beta access, SOE chronicled how PlanetSide 2's beta access will shake out, and Phantasy Star Online 2 fans can brush up on their Japanese and jump into that title's open beta.

Finally, CCP promised DUST 514 beta invites to players who purchase a special booster pack. The shooter's first beta weekend began yesterday.

Immerse yourself in the full Betawatch roundup beyond the break.

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Blade & Soul joins our open beta list this week, taunting all of us on this side of the pond with its Korean exclusivity, while the PvP-fest known as Waren Story has entered closed beta. Meanwhile, Mechwarrior Online is offering fans the chance to buy into its founder's program. The game's early access program is due to begin on August 7th.

Lastly, this weekend will see the final beta event for newly NDA-free The Secret World, and Guild Wars 2 pre-purchasers will snag another chance to stress-test that title come Wednesday.

The entire Betawatch roundup is behind the cut!

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This week, Divina joined our open beta list, while Universal Monsters Online, Dragon Knights and Maestia have been etched onto the closed beta roster. Don't forget to nab your chance at a DUST 514 beta key and jump into this weekend's The Secret World beta test!

Longtime Betawatchers will notice that starting tonight, we've redefined how we categorize MMOs in testing. Many of the games we used to list have now been deemed to have soft-launched, cleaning up the column for those players interested in following games actually in testing! Check out the new Betawatch roundup behind the cut.

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We also now know that sandbox Origins of Malu is shooting for a beta starting on September 30th. Mark your calendars!

Finally, earlier today Guild Wars 2 kicked off its second beta weekend event for pre-purchasers. If you can tear yourself away from that, then enjoy the full Betawatch roundup post-break!

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This week in Betawatch we'd like to welcome RIFT's first expansion, Storm Legion, to the hallowed halls of the alpha list! From minute one following the announcement, we in the Massively offices were dying to get a piece of that preview -- and with any luck, we all will this summer.

Otherwise, it was a quiet week save for the onset of World of Warplanes' and Renaissance Heroes' closed beta testing. You did grab a Renaissance Heroes beta key from us, right?

Jump on past the break to see the full list of what's still in testing!

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This week in Betawatch, the biggest news is that the game everyone expected to be in beta isn't around. Guild Wars 2 is not running a beta weekend this weekend, meaning that anyone hoping to spend the long weekend in Tyria is going to have to go with the classic version. We also say farewell to Star Supremacy in wake of its launch.

However, for those who love testing unreleased games, it's not all bad news. World of Warplanes has announced its closed beta kicking off at the end of the month, and MechWarrior Online is heading into its closed beta this week. While you won't have a chance to get your paws on The Secret World just yet, we do have a nice new shiny set of impressions from the beta to help tide you over.

Jump on past the break to see the full list of what's still in testing!

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This week on Betawatch, we say farewell to Diablo III, which (at least nominally) moved on from beta to official launch on Tuesday. Bizarrely enchanting new MOBA SmashMuck Champions takes its place, joining our list with a closed beta planned within the month. We've also added MechWarrior Online to the alpha list, as reader mblakeman2001 rightly pointed out the game is in a friends-and-family beta!

CCP has begun sending out DUST 514 beta keys and opened registration, and we've also learned that Blade & Soul will leave beta and launch in July... but only in Korea. Sadface.

Finally, The Secret World's second beta weekend kicked off earlier today, but if you're not in it, you can content yourself with our hands-on with the game's combat and mission system.

Enjoy the entirety of our Betawatch roundup post-cut!

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The Spirit Tales open beta launched this week, bumping that game up a tier on our beta list. In fact, the game proved so popular that an additional beta server was added to accommodate the avalanche of fans of all things cute.

City of Steam has announced an alpha test for July, while Storybricks is accepting alpha signups for its alpha demo right now. Compounding the season's MMO drama is Phantasy Star Online 2, which is aiming to open up its beta early this summer.

The Secret World, with its 1,000,000 beta signups, is is kicking off its first beta weekend starting today. Meanwhile, Glitch's epic beta housing patch is finally upon us, World of Warcraft has unveiled cross-server grouping in the Mists of Pandaria beta, and Guild Wars 2 announced a surprise stress test for pre-purchasers this coming Monday.

Finally, if you're bored this weekend, why not check out Diablo III-rival Path of Exile? Tipsters Don and James report it's holding a public stress test starting right as this post is published at 8 p.m. EDT tonight.

The full Betawatch roundup lies in wait behind the break.

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Beta launches numbered few this week, but Betawatchers were amply supplied with beta news. Glitch launched its new imagination system, we logged hands-on time with Firefall, Diablo III unveiled the Wizard and the game's TV spot, Storybricks kickstarted a Kickstarter promotion, The Repopulation promised a sandbox-worthy gear system, and the Guild Wars 2 gem store crept online.

We also say farewell to TERA this week as it's now out of beta and available in the West!

The full Betawatch roundup is tucked behind the break, ready and waiting to take over your weekend.

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Tamer Saga and Grimlands join Betawatch's closed beta list this week, while Pirate101 (arrrr!) and Dragon Crusade have been added to our alpha list. And if you were hoping to jump into Spirit Tales' open beta on Wednesday, you're out of luck: Koramgame has postponed that test until May 10th with a lengthy explanation.

Want in on the Neverwinter beta? Prepurchasing Torchlight 2 through Perfect World Entertainment's portal will guarantee your spot.

You're no doubt keeping a steady eye on both TERA, which has opened up its head start program in advance of launch next week, and Guild Wars 2, whose first beta event for prepurchasers began earlier today. EVE Fanfest attendees can now redeem their voucher codes for DUST 514 as well.

Finally, reader Chet tipped us off to the rumor fact that Salem beta test invites are going out!

Enjoy the full Betawatch roundup after the break.

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Three new games join Betawatch this week! The Tad Williams-inspired Otherland is now accepting alpha sign-ups; Aeria Games announced Waren Story with a beta sign-up and a trailer; and Gamania opened up the testing rolls for its newest MMO, Soul Captor.

Meanwhile, heavy-hitters TERA and Guild Wars 2 are focusing on their impending beta weekends. TERA's first open beta weekend starts today, while Guild Wars 2 plans its first beta event for pre-purchasers next weekend.

Finally, Blizzard will be closing down the Diablo III beta come Tuesday in preparation for launch next month. That means that today through Monday is your last chance to get it on the open beta!

Read on for the full Betawatch roundup!

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Betawatch bids farewell to Tribes: Ascend this week; it's officially launched and shiny, and even better, it's F2P, so go get your pew on! If you're that one guy who just doesn't dig jetpacks, maybe try a free beta key for UFO Online, currently still in closed beta.

Meanwhile, fantasy MMO heavyweights Guild Wars 2 and TERA have been ramping up their beta hype with sneak-peeks, open beta plans, and pre-purchase kickoffs. If you're more into vampires, you'll be pleased to learn that Dark Legends has also rolled out to Android phones and Chrome. And finally, we've gotten another update from the Glitch folks about that game's impending housing revamp.

Enjoy the full Betawatch roundup!

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This week on Betawatch, we say farewell to Seven Souls Online and Blacklight Retribution, both of which have now launched officially. In their place, we've added two new games to keep an eye on: Star Conflict, a PvP-oriented space-combat MMO, joins our open beta list, while Grecca, a 2-D sandbox MMO, earns its city-building self a spot on our (open) alpha list.

Meanwhile, Spirit Tales announced an open beta date of April 25th, TERA kicked off its final closed beta weekend with a look at what open beta will entail, and Ensemble Online reached out for Kickstarter funding for its beta.

Enjoy the full Betawatch roundup beyond the break.

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This week in Betawatch, UFO Online entered its next round of closed beta, World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria beta opened up to more annual pass subscribers, and Auto Club Revolution kicked off a testing phase of its own, thereby joining our official open beta list.

Tired of standard MMOs? MMOFPS Firefall has announced its next stage of beta, and fans of Roguelikes can pile on the Path of Exile public stress test all weekend (thanks to reader Carson for that tip).

Don't forget our coverage of the latest and greatest Guild Wars 2 beta media event!

The full Betawatch roundup is tucked behind the cut.

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This week has been huge for Betawatchers: The beta for World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria expansion kicked off, Wrath of Heroes' beta servers are now open, and Salem has begun accepting beta signups. We also learned that the End of Nations closed beta will start this spring.

Are you hoping to populate The Repopulation? Alpha signups went live just a few hours ago! Or maybe you're still waiting on Glitch's re-release? TinySpeck released a progress report earlier this evening (housing fans should go peek).

Finally, ArenaNet confirmed that a batch of Guild Wars 2 beta invites went out this week. Massively will be in attendance over the weekend, so tell us what you want to know and we'll do our best to focus on it!

The full Betawatch roundup is after the cut!

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