Star Wars Battlefront Open Beta Coming in Early October

EA and DICE have announced they're hosting an open beta of Star Wars Battlefront next month.

As time is winding down to Star Wars Battlefront's November launch (which means Star Wars: The Force Awakens' release is getting closer as well), EA and DICE have decided to host a public technical test of the game to make sure its servers will be able to host the multitude of Rebel and Imperial soldiers planning to play. This beta test will be open for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC gamers (via EA Origin) and will not require a pre-order of the game or any such nonsense to participate.

You'll get to play the Walker Assault on Hoth stage, which is a 40-man multiplayer battle that takes place during The Empire Strikes Back's iconic first act. While the Rebel Alliance and Empire are duking it out on Hoth's frozen surface, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader will be playable characters somewhere on the battlefield as well. Also available will be the Tatooine Survival Mission, where you and a Rebel friend will fend off waves of Imperial forces. Lastly, an all-new gameplay mode, Drop Zone, will be tested during the beta. Unfortunately, DICE has yet to reveal any details about this mode yet.

EA will be launching a Companion app during the beta, which will let you play a Base Command strategy card game that lets you unlock in-game credits for Battlefront (which will unlock weapons and Star Cards in the main game). The Companion app will let you check game stats, customize loadouts and see if your friends are playing online.

Star Wars Battlefront will debut on Nov. 17 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. All versions of the game will be able to get two special maps on Dec. 8 that take place on Jakku, the planet featured in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (hitting theaters starting Dec. 18) but pre-ordering the game will let you have access to these new stages on Dec. 1.

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