2v2 RTS A Year of Rain is now taking signups for a closed beta

Daedalic Entertainment is best known for point-and-click adventures, but earlier this year it announced that it's going to take a shot at the RTS genre with A Year of Rain. The game will feature a fairly standard-sounding setup of three distinct factions building bases, recruiting armies, and fighting over resources, but puts a focus on hero units and team-based competitive play with a 2v2 skirmish mode, leaderboards, replays, and a league system all planned for launch.

If you'd like to get a taste of what it's like before the launch later this year, signups for a closed beta are now being taken at beta.ayearofrain.com. A start time hasn't been announced but applicants will be admitted into the beta in waves when it goes live, and Daedalic clarified that there's no preorder offers guaranteeing admittance: If you want in, you sign up and hope for the best. (As far as I can tell, you can't preorder the game yet anyway.)

For those who prefer to watch, Daedalic is also holding a pre-release "Undead Champs" tournament, which is actually underway now. The tourney will conclude in a grand finale that will begin at 7 pm CEST (10 am PT/1 pm ET) on September 28, and will be livestreamed on Twitch. VODs of previous competitions will also be shared through the channel when they become available.

There will be a campaign in A Year of Rain: Daedalic hasn't gone into the details of that yet, saying only that will tell a "compelling multi-layered story," but it's "designed for a co-op experience" as well, so it'll be interesting to see how that works out. A website at ayearofrain.com is on the way but not quite ready yet (the beta signup page is working, though), so for now you can get the details on Steam.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.