Age of Conan open beta gets date

By Oli Welsh Published 21 April, 2008

50,000 players invited, level cap imposed.

Funcom has announced that the open beta for its hotly anticipated fantasy MMO, Age of Conan, will begin on May 1st, at 1500 GMT.

The beta will be hosted exclusively by FilePlanet, and the first step in getting access - "registration for notification" - is now open.

The open beta phase will give 50,000 players a chance to sample Age of Conan ahead of its release on May 20th. However, it won't be the whole game that they get to play.

The primary purpose of the open beta is to purely provide "final stress teseting", according to game director Gaute Godager. So a level 13 cap will be applied - as opposed to the 80-level cap of the complete game - and the entire game will not be available.

Open beta should still be an interesting look at this important game, though, so head over to FilePlanet for a chance to join us there in a couple of weeks.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 4 years ago

    I just hope that we, the regular beta testers, can also join in the fun ;)

  • ZuluHero #2 4 years ago

    and what about pre-orders?

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #3 4 years ago

    We're trying to get that confirmed, ZuluHero. Look for more later.

  • Dizzy #4 4 years ago

    Pre-orders can start playing the 17th. The preorder servers also do not WIPE your character ;)

  • kestral #5 4 years ago

    Am I the only one that finds this worringly late in the process? Can't get much done in two and a half weeks surely including QA.

  • Dizzy #6 4 years ago

    >Am I the only one that finds this worringly late in the process?

    They had a very long beta. This open beta is probably just to show off the game to potential buyers. The word beta should be taken lightly here ;)

  • M83J01P97 #7 4 years ago

    Am I right in saying there isn't going to be a trial version of this game upon release? At least that's what I had heard...

    Seems like am I am going to have to try and get onto this Beta then. But honestly... I think it should be mandatory that all MMO's have at least a 7 days free trial.

  • Res #8 4 years ago

    MMO's hardly ever have free trials on release because the servers would be flooded and the people who have actually bought the game would be unable to connect. They have a hard enough time trying to deal with the thousands who have payed for the game logging in as it is.

  • Ceatlan #9 4 years ago

    I don't see how it can be an 'open' beta when it will require a fileplanet subscription to take part.

  • dirtysteve #10 4 years ago

    Ceatlan's right, it's only the notifications that's free. Booo-urns

  • M83J01P97 #11 4 years ago

    So we are going to have to pay to even get our hands on a beta pass?

    Yes I know offering a trial would more than likely impose extra stress on the servers making it unfair on those who are willing to dish out money on an MMO they have never played... but still. There are lots of MMO's out there already, even more with a fantasy setting, so if they want to entice a bigger audience, I really think they should have considered putting out a trial or even demo (a large portion of the game when you first start is instanced).

  • Morte66 #12 4 years ago

    @Ceatlan

    Yep, funny sort of "open".

  • gm_al #13 4 years ago

    The game requires 30 gigs of space, I dont quite see how they can offer a demo...

  • M83J01P97 #14 4 years ago

    Level 1 up to around level 10 takes place in an instanced environment and then provides you with passage into the main game world where other players exist and so on.

    So I imagine a demo could easily be just this early tutorial section, giving you a good idea of what the game is all about and then allowing you to purcahse the full game and pay monthly if you want to carry on your character in the main game world.