Star Wars Battlefront closed alpha invitations are in the mail

Electronic Arts is now sending out invitations to the Star Wars Battlefront closed alpha test, which can be applied for at starwars.ea.com. However, while anyone can click the "confirm your application" button, not everyone will get past the gate.

A valid Origin account is required to get into the alpha, but even with that, your application may be rejected. The tricky bit is, we're not entirely sure why: whether it's because the alpha is limited only to people who received an invitation, or to people with specific PC specs or time on a certain game; it's also possible that the alpha is simply already full. The rejection message, which I and several of my fellow PC Gamerites received, says only, "The Star Wars Battlefront Closed Alpha is a technical test and is available for a small number of users. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow our social channels to find out how you might be able to play Star Wars Battlefront before its November 17th release in North America."

According to Polygon, system requirements for the alpha are a quad-core CPU, 6 GB RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX-680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 with 2 GB RAM, and 64-bit versions of either Windows 7 or 8. EA also warned that "performance at this stage of development may be inconsistent," and that characters and progress made during the alpha won't transfer to the full game.

The invitation said that applications will continue to be taken until June 30, but again, the actual eligibility criteria are completely unknown. Reddit indicates that some people are getting in and some aren't, but again, nobody seems to know why, so let us know if you manage to make it through. Star Wars Battlefront comes out on November 17.

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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.