World of Warplanes is still in closed beta, but it’s improving every day into a very ace game. The good chaps over at Wargaming have sent us 600 keys to get you into the beta and start playing today. Why not give it a go, after all, we listed it as one of our best 100 free PC games.
Is it in its guns? Oh no that's just bullets. Is it in its maps? Oh no that's just vaguely neo-Aztec architecture, I think. (Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot) oh if you wanna know what makes the latest ShootMania update so nice, it's in its grappling hooks. Yes, the second phase of Nadeo's eSports shooter has proper grappling hooks, and I've got Cher stuck in my head.
I’m sure you’ve heard that the Firefall European servers are all Ok’d, TLC’d and OMFG’d ready for the December 7th beta weekend. We have managed to snag ourselves 500 beta keys to giveaway to you lovely folks so you can try out the game yourself. 
Following the brief closed beta at the end of October, first-person mech battler Hawken is gearing up for a second closed beta session running from November 8 to November 13. Meteor have also announced Hawken's pre-order bundle options for those looking for exclusive prototype mech rewards, or just to secure their place in the Hawken beta.
Our Spotlight units plug content our journalists have made, that our advertisers want to promote. Sometimes the promotion is paid for, but the content they go to is always independent with no client oversight or approval.
A new continent, Esamir is on its way to the PlanetSide 2 beta, while the third might be added post launch, according to a post by SOE’s John Smedley on the Planetside 2 forums. Also announced are balance changes, gun recoil adjustments, performance issues and the importance of certifications/resources. More details after the break.
Check your inboxes. Your main one, obviously. But also your backup, and the one that you use just to sign up to services you know you never want to hear anything from. And check that one you made when you were 14 and thought that Judge Dredd was just about the coolest thing on the planet and so ‘DreddLaw69’ would be a good account name.
At Gamescom, Maxis's Jordan Edelstein spoke about Sim City's development, detailing Sim City World, the community focused multiplayer half of the city-builder. Sim City World will allow players to collaborate, sharing resources and population across a network of connected, online cities. Edelstein also revealed that Sim City will be available on Mac (as will the Origin service itself). Sim City beta sign-ups have started today too, ahead of the game's launch in February 2013. The site's just crashed, naturally. Why not frantically refresh it, to inspire it back to life?
We continue to be very much in love with Red 5 Studios, the adorables behind free to play FPS Firefall. The game's beta version has just received its biggest patch ever, by Red 5's own reckoning, which damn near overhauls the entire thing, removing some classes, adding new ones and punching new features into every available space. The first line of the patch notes read "Gameplay Changes: Changed everything. Created fun." We like that, a lot. The update is available for beta participants right now, while a five minute long patch trailer follows.
Now that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has lifted up its balaclava and puckered it's pre-order lips, news of a whopper of an incoming beta patch has landed. The update is due to arrive before August 14th, and incorporates a veritable payload of changes and tweaks. The full patchnotes can be found here. It includes Mac support, changes in bot difficulty, eight new player models, new animations, new UI elements, new voice overs and weapon tweaks. It's a hefty patch indeed, and likely the final one of its kind before the game reaches its release date of August 24.
Update: The President of SOE, John Smedley, has tweeted that the Planetside Beta is going to be starting on Monday at 2pm, if everything goes to plan. That's sooner than sooner than soon. That's only a weekend away! It's time to start dusting off those bespoke driving gloves that make piloting a Galaxy such a joy. And make sure your hands still fit in them.
That crafty Planetside 2! Where is it? It was scheduled to enter external beta on "Monday or Tuesday" of this week, but that pin-sharp release date has now been shifted to "Friday or Monday, barring any unforeseen circumstances", SOE have told us. John Smedley tweets that "the team is working like crazy" to polish and test the MMOFPS before the dev finally throws open the doors to a throng of salivating public beta testers. But who's at the front of the queue? Is it you?
In the final hour of each Guild Wars 2 beta weekend, ArenaNet weave an epic adventure as a parting thank you for the participating players. For the last beta event before launch, ArenaNet showed their take on the popular book series (and smash movie hit) Hunger Games. What used to be a way to easily stress test the game is now a showcase of the development and design talents of the Guild Wars 2 team. And they’re good at this stuff. 
Hello!
Hopefully, you’re all in the process of downloading the latest client for Guild Wars 2 in preparation for the Beta Weekend taking place this weekend. To celebrate, and to say a big thank you to our lovely readers* we want to make a guild for you so you can find easily find quest groups, and maybe try some PvP and World vs World together.
Battlefield 4 has been double-confirmed no takes backsies by EA in their latest Medal of Honor Warfighter video. "Pre-order Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition for access to the exclusive Battlefield 4 Beta," barks an introductory splash screen before you're knee-deep in a Warfighter developer's commentary. There really is no such thing as a free lunch, or beta access that's not bolted on to a weaker EA title. That trailer is below.
With each day, Guild Wars 2 is getting closer to release. It was before, but now that we’ve got a release date we can count down, rather than up. And as it’s getting closer, so too is the next Beta Weekend, which kicks off on the 20th. The really exciting thing, though, is that the Release Client and the Beta Client, at that point, will be exactly the same. So that last Beta Weekend is more of a treat to pre-purchasers, rather than the extensive stress testing and bug-finding of previous endeavours. 
Phew, we almost went more than three days without a crumb of a clue of the Mists of Pandaria release date. It's definitely not before August 16, as that would render the Gamescom reveal of the World of Warcraft expansions opening cinematic ridiculous. But it's definitely soon: Blizzard are about to begin public beta testing of patch 5.0.1, which precedes the Mists of Pandaria launch by introducing some new features and functionality.
Wondering if your 'rig' can 'handle' Red 5's upcoming free-to-play shooter Firefall? Is your 'PC 'bad' enough? By which we mean: is it good enough? Well stop wondering and take a look at the freshly revealed minimum and recommended specs for Firefall. The shooter is currently entering the second stage of its closed beta run, having amassed 500,000 players so far. To celebrate, the studio (famously founded by a gaggle of ex-Blizzard devs) are busy throwing out beta invites over on Firefall's official website. If your 'machine' is 'up to it', you might consider signing up.
I'm already playingShootMania, Nadeo's surprising adjunct to their TrackMania series, and they've just announced that if you want to get involved you can sign up at their site. Weirdly for a 'Closed Beta', everyone that signs up is guaranteed a spot: the beta sign-up period is open until July 2nd.
Judging from the rate the number is rising, Dota 2 hit a million players at some point last night. That’s a one with six zeros afterwards. For a game still in Beta, and still only playable by those with beta keys, or those willing to pony up a little cash for an Early Access Bundle, that’s pretty damn impressive. One million players, and, according to stats.dota2.be, over twenty two million games played. Wowee.
Are you ready? Are your clients updated, your bellies full, your complimentary ArenaNet urination pouches properly installed? Are you ready to spend the next three days lost in Tyria, battling your fellow virtual man, or banding together with them to take on the artificially intelligent tyranny of the NPC? You need to feed the cat first? Ok, I’ll wait. 
