War of the Vikings begins closed alpha testing this week

Closed alpha news is a bit of a double-edged axe - one that's often found buried in the skull of a person who really wants to participate in the limited access test. For War of the Vikings, though, Paradox are guaranteeing access to the alpha for anyone who owns Fatshark's previous historical first-person slasher, War of the Roses: Kingmaker. That alpha is due to start in a couple of days time, on August 22nd.

The test is limited to 4,000 players at any one time, but if you can't log on immediately, you'll have until September 1st, when the alpha invasion draws to a close.

"During the test, we'll be trying out Pitched Arena mode on the Monastery and Gauntlet maps," van Dyke continues. "You'll have your choice of three character classes: The Warrior (an all-around medium class with a sword/shield and throwing axes), The Huscarl (a heavy melee fighter with a big giant axe), and The Hirdman (a light ranged class with a longbow and axe)."

For more on War of the Vikings, pop over to our announcement reveal .

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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.