Starhawk public beta begins next week

By Fred Dutton Published 13 January, 2012

PlayStation Plus subscribers get first dibs.

A public beta for forthcoming PlayStation 3 shooter Starhawk kicks off on 18th January, publisher Sony has announced.

"This is a crucial step for us as we'll be testing all sorts of things, including game balance, server traffic, and general bugs," wrote senior producer Florence Kum on the PlayStation Blog.

"This is also a chance for more players to finally see what we've been working so hard on."

PlayStation Plus subscribers will be granted access on the 18th alongside anyone who participated in the recent private beta.

Then on 1st February all those who redeemed the Online Network Pass found in copies of Uncharted 3 can sign in.

Common-or-garden PSN riff-raff will then be permitted to join the fun on 22nd February.

Sony didn't reveal what content will be playable, but confirmed that it will be multiplayer only. No firm end date has been set for the beta.

"When the game is good and ready!" said Kum in an FAQ.

"Honestly, when we've learned all we can and feel we can deliver the best product to you. BUT it's our recommendation that you do not delay joining or you might find your window of opportunity passing you by."

Have a glance at Eurogamer's recent Starhawk preview for more on the follow-up to 8/10 2007 effort Warhawk.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • captain_Carl #1 4 months ago

    HAHA....Kum

  • Golgo #2 4 months ago

    RiffRaff 22nd Feb for me, then, because I'm not a sucker for pre-paying for the privilege of bug-testing a consumer product.

  • Progguitarist #3 4 months ago

    Ace. Loved the private beta

  • captain_Carl #4 4 months ago

    @Golgo Yeah...because we all know that's all you get with PS+...

  • Golgo #5 4 months ago

    ^ Fair point Captain_Carl, my apologies. We (I used to) get games on perma-rent, too. Anyway, I look forward to it.
    Edited by Golgo at 13/01/12 @ 18:53

  • chessboxer #6 4 months ago

    Looks like I will be joining in on the fun on the 18th.

  • king26 #7 4 months ago

    I'll have to wait until the first then with my U3 code. How did the private beta play?

  • byakuya83 #8 4 months ago

    Post deleted at 10:03:41 30-03-2012

  • HisDudness #9 4 months ago

    It's a proper blu-ray retail game. No subscription (but likely a one-time PSN pass required to play online included with new copies) There might be a simultaneous PSN release, as with Warhawk, but I wouldn't bet on it.

    I hope we get to test at the maximum player count. Saw some videos of the private beta and the maps looked a bit empty.

    I'm glad they are doing the beta without a release date, so that they will be ble to take community feedback into account before committing to a release.

  • Subject91 #10 4 months ago

    Cool more people to play with, towards the end of the private beta I struggled to get a match to start properly because no one was joining.

    To those people asking the private beta was very stable and the game is more than worth a free try so give it a go.

  • Snufkin #11 4 months ago

    I managed to spend a few hours in the private beta and really enjoyed it. The matchmaking needed done work and it was often pretty empty but the core game play was great. As with warhawk it could often be tricky to get hold of a jet but the building mechanism is cool and really encourages teamwork.

    Graphics wont change the world and the deathmatch sucks compared to the objective games like ctf . Def worth signing up for the beta and i may well buy it cos most other mp games leave me cold nowadays.

    I just hope they add in a few more vehicle types and increase variety of the maps, would be nice to have some greenery like in starhawk

  • Drygore #12 4 months ago

    @Golgo
    Looks like someone's upset being riff-raff.. ;-]

  • millgate2 #13 4 months ago

    Am I the only one who didn't receive a Starhawk Beta code in my copy of Uncharted 3? (I'm from Ireland by the way). Was it an American thing only?

  • Golgo #14 4 months ago

    @Drygore: lol, yep. They'll rue the day... / shakes fist. :)

  • LEONOFDEATH #15 4 months ago

    YAAAAAY! :D

  • LEONOFDEATH #16 4 months ago

    @Golgo I pay £40 a year for hundreds of pounds worth of stuff.

    This is a bonus.

    It may be a long term rental, But by the time my sub runs out again id have played almost everything i got free. And if i want to keep it, Whats another £40?
    Its cheaper than buying one game new.

    PS+ is a brilliant thing. Never looked back.

  • Architect_z #17 4 months ago

    Starhawk!!! I'm happy to wait till Feb, Dark Souls will be completed by then, I promise!