Firefall holds first public beta this weekend, new game footage released

Ambitious MMO shooter Firefall is set to open its servers to a new wave of bug hunters. That's "bug" in both senses: those in the game's code and the squishy beasts you'll be shooting. From January 25 - 27 the game will be holding its first 48-hour public beta weekend, letting anyone who registers for a Firefall account run around its massive open world. In preparation for the test, Red 5 have released a trailer, giving potential participants a taste of what to expect.

Firefall is a many-genred MMO set on a future Earth overrun by giant bugs and humanoid "Chosen". Red 5's vice president of development, James Macauley, describes it like so: "We're a shooter, we're an online shooter, we're a social game, we're an MMO, we're an RPG, we're an RTS. There's a massively persistent open world, deep character progression, deep backstory and lore, competitive PvP and e-sports-focused match types, ladders and leagues. We have all these different aspects of different games, we have the social features of MMOs, we have armies – built-in clan support much like a guild – we have all of this stuff and it's a free-to-play game."

That's a lot of stuff to cram into a single download. Still interested? You can find further details of the beta weekend at the Firefall website , and read Rich's massive preview right here .

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.