Piranha Games president Russ Bullock said on Friday that the open beta is scheduled to launch on Monday, October 29. Originally the free-to-play shooter was scheduled to throw open its doors to all on October 16, but was delayed due to the game's "current state of stability". The team said the new date would depend on the stability and playability of the new build, which now seem to be good to go for this coming Monday.
MechWarrior Online went into closed beta on May 22. It features a real-time mechanic where 24-hours in the game equals to 24 hours in the real world (January 1, 2012 is equal to January 1, 3049). The setting takes place during the early stages of a massive interstellar war and throws players into the seat of "the most powerful war machine to ever walk the field of battle," the BattleMech. Players can customize the Mech to suit their battlefield role, upgrade systems, replace weapons, and tweak armor with endless options.
On Friday Bullock presented a fairly lengthy update, addressing many concerns gamers have expressed all through the closed beta, including concerns about launching the open beta too soon. He reaffirmed that the team just couldn't ask the closed beta testers to continue because they are likely fatigued from having to start over multiple times.
"We can’t effectively test certain things any further with our current community," he added. "In many ways we can’t effectively test systems both in back end infrastructure and game systems without both more and different types of players. We need to bring in new non-core players to determine what aspects of MWO interface, etc need to be changed and exactly how they should be changed. We can’t make proper headway in these areas without Open Beta."
The blog also reveals that the Founder's Program has generated millions of dollars. The company offers three Founder's packages: the $120 Legendary package, the $60 Elite package, and the $30 Veteran package. All three offer a nice set of perks including free access to a premium account for a limited time, a Founder's tag, in-game currency and more.
So far Piranha has received $5.2 million USD. "That is a huge statement to just how amazing the MechWarrior franchise and it’s unique and exciting play mechanics are, and now a whole new generation of gamers are about to learn that," he said.
