Ashes of Creation Apocalypse, a precursor to ambitious Kickstarted (opens in new tab) MMORPG Ashes of Creation (opens in new tab), will launch a free open beta later this month with a 100-player battle royale mode, developer Intrepid Studios has announced.
The aim of Apocalypse is to "test key systems and infrastructure" for the main MMO, which doesn't yet have a release date. The beta will start with a battle royale, followed "soon after release" by 200-player castle sieges and a co-op horde mode.
If you play the beta, which you can sign up for here (opens in new tab), you can earn cosmetics for when the full game comes out.
The trailer, above, shows you what to expect from Apocalypse. It's a colourful medieval fantasy setting full of fireballs, blasts of electricity and purple runes. The arsenal of weapons looks diverse, with players handling both big swords and elemental rocket launchers.
You'll have lots of spells and abilities to sling, including short-range blinks and giant ice traps, and it looks like it might have some light building too.
All those effects could impact performance, mind, and even in the trailer you can see a couple of frame rate drops. Still, it's early days, and Intrepid will hope to iron out the kinks as the beta progresses.
If you want to know more about the MMORPG, watch Steven's interview with the developers here (opens in new tab).
