Wild West Online's closed alpha kicks off with a gold rush

The closed alpha for Wild West Online, the gunslinging, gold-mining MMO, has kicked off, opening the saloon doors to any card shark, outlaw and cowboy who bought the Pioneer or Collector’s edition. This first alpha will run for three weekends.

Gold is what’s going to be driving the action during the alpha, developer 612 Games explain. In this version of the game, players will need to mine gold and even work together to create mining camps with other players. It’s dangerous work, however, as the precious resource will need to be hauled back to towns to be sold, and bandit players will be able to intercept the cargo, stealing it from its rightful owners.

“This is a rough version of what the game will be, but it's not a fully scoped game,” says executive producer Stephan Bugaj. “We're giving players a glimpse at what the game will be, as well a chance to directly influence our development process by giving feedback in response to a true game alpha. We want to hear constructive feedback and work with our community to build a game that can be enjoyed for many years to come.”

The first weekend alpha will run until the 18th, followed by two more: 22-25, 29-1. Then, between October and November, a second alpha test will be with persistent, 21/7 servers and a new map. That’ll run between October 10 and November 15.

We saw a hands-off demo of the game in the summer. Here’s what James thought of what he saw: “It may have been slight, and far too early to see it in action, but the short demo convinced me that WWO isn’t being designed as a lazy cash grab. The world is massive, gorgeous, and the systems within weren’t built overnight. With the right tuning and player population, it feels capable of fulfilling certain aspects of the western fantasy. I’m just not sure how interesting it’ll be in a large scale, live environment.”

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.