First RollerCoaster Tycoon World beta weekend begins October 30

Preorder customers of RollerCoaster Tycoon World will have access to the upcoming theme park simulator's first beta weekend beginning this Friday, October 30 at 6 pm EDT and ending on Monday, November 2, around 1 pm EST.

This first of two planned betas (the second will be along sometime in November) will primarily focus on the game's roller coasters. According to the announcement on the official RCTW site, beta participants will be able to use the full custom coaster builder and all of the coaster types. So, if it all works well, you should be able to create the ride of your dreams. Or nightmares. You know the first thing everyone's gonna do is see how far they can launch the cars off the tracks.

This won't be a full sandbox experience, as there will be no financial systems and no park visitors in your lonely little beta park, though at least you'll be able to ride your custom coasters in first-person mode and view your ride's stats and safety ratings. Some additional systems will be available as well, like scenery, grid-free paths, and terrain and water deformation tools. If you're not planning to join the beta, you'll still be able to get a look at the game: it'll be streamed on Alienware's Twitch channel on October 29 at 3 pm EDT. There are also no restrictions on participants streaming or posting videos from the beta, so you should be able to tune in on Twitch over the weekend and get an eyeful of crazy coasters.

If you preordered a copy directly from Atari, you'll still need to activate your copy on Steam to participate in the beta. RollerCoaster Tycoon World is scheduled to be released on December 10.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.