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Battlefield 3 beta release date

Boom.

DICE has announced the Battlefield 3 beta release date: Thursday 29th September.

It goes live on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The featured game mode is Rush, and the featured map is Operation Metro.

Those who have pre-ordered the PC digital download version through EA's Origin platform, or who own the Limited/Tier 1 edition of Medal of Honor get early access starting on Tuesday 27th September.

The open beta ends on 10th October.

On PlayStation 3, the beta will appear automatically on the PlayStation Network Store. On Xbox 360, it will automatically appear on Xbox Live Marketplace. On PC, it will automatically appear in the Origin application's demo page.

On console, you simply download the beta and play. On PC, you first need to install the Origin client and then install the beta from within the Origin client. Origin is not required to play on PS3 or Xbox 360, DICE said. But for PC, Origin will be used to distribute the beta installation and run the game and therefore is necessary to play.

You won't be able to carry forward your stats from the beta into the final version of the game. "We are still fine tuning the ranking system and we don't want to give beta players an unfair advantage when Battlefield 3 launches," DICE explained. You will keep your soldier name, though.