Starhawk open beta dates revealed, starts next week for Plus subscribers

SCEA senior producer Harvard Bonin just announced on the PlayStation.Blog that Starhawk will transition into open beta starting next Tuesday, January 17 for PlayStation Plus members. This is also the same day that private beta participants can play, so long as you didn't erase your original private beta files, that is.

Two weeks later, January 31, those with vouchers from purchasing Uncharted 3 can finally redeem them. Finally, on February 21, the Starhawk beta will be completely open, allowing anyone on PlayStation Network to play. If you don't want to wait that long, and don't have a voucher, the PlayStation.Blog also mentions that visiting GameStop and PlayStation on Facebook on February 7 could provide the opportunity to join the fray a bit earlier. 

For an in-depth look at how Starhawk's private beta went, check out our interview with Harvard Bonin. 

Q&A: Sony's Harvard Bonin talks Starhawk's closed-beta experience, teases future DLC plans

With the Starhawk closed-beta concluded, I wanted to catch up with senior producer Harvard Bonin to see how the past few months have treated the game. While I was able to learn a great deal about the community's involvement with the bug-squashing process, Bonin also teased what the team at Lightbox Interactive have in store for post-launch support.

RespawnAction: Overall, how would you describe how Starhawk's closed-beta went?

Harvard Bonin: From our team standpoint, it had a ton of highs mixed with a few lows. I'm happy to say we were more successful than not when it came to proving out the game. Overall, the fun factor seems to be there and players are responding positively. I can say from a personal experience that I had a few late, great nights playing with the fans. We collected a gigantic amount of data and with that we were able to make frequent (often daily) updates to the beta. It was really done the way betas should be done, and we're proud of that. We're running surveys now at http://www.lightboxinteractive.com/starhawk-beta-survey-1. We ask players to answer some questions and really participate in game making.

We also had private forums for players and we got a ton of info from that. Overall, we had some freezes, crashes, balance issues, etc. There was nothing that wasn't surprising and we've been able to address a lot of this stuff. Our public beta starts soon and the next 1.2 update will fix even more. We realize players want more vehicles, structures, maps, etc. to play with, however, we are testing the game and we're getting plenty just from the content we have right now. We'll see what we add in the future.

We'll have a community page up down the road, but in the meantime if players want to participate with the team on a daily basis, visit https://www.facebook.com/#!/StarhawkTheGame.

Starhawk private beta invites are airborne today

Today is the day: the Starhawk private beta has officially begun, and if you're a veteran Warhawk player who signed-up to receive a beta key, your email inbox may have a pleasant surprise today.

If you did sign up and don't receive a key today, don't be alarmed. Sony and Starhawk developer Lightbox Interactive are "slow-rolling" the invites in an effort to get more precise feedback from a smaller amount of testers. Over time, more and more keys will be sent. 

If you still want to take part in the Starhawk beta, you can sign up on the official page. Those with new copies of Uncharted 3 will also be able to participate early next year.

Starhawk private beta starts next month

A private beta for Starhawk will start next month for a select number of participants, developer LightBox Interactive revealed today.

Email invites will be sent to Warhawk veterans, in both the United States and Europe, and eligibility depends on your rank in Warhawk, your involvement in the Warhawk community, and a few other factors that have not been revealed. 

Participants will be allowed into the beta in waves in order for Lightbox to manage the servers and have a more intimate back and forth discussion with a smaller group of players. A special forum has been set up by SCEA where members of Lightbox will be able to chat with the beta testers and hear the suggestions.

Those who take part in the private beta will also receive a special "gift" when Starhawk releases next year. 

If you don't make it into Starhawk's private beta, remember that new copies of Uncharted 3 contain a voucher to play in the open beta which starts early next year.

Starhawk beta voucher included with Uncharted 3

Ready to hop into Nathan Drake's next adventure in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception? That's cool, and the game has gone gold, by the way, meaning it is currently in the manufacturing process and will indeed make its intended November 1 release date.

But, bigger than that, all retail copies of Uncharted 3 will include a voucher to take part in the early 2012 beta for Starhawk, which, may be worth the $60 alone. Though, that's not to say that Uncharted 3 isn't. 

Don't forget the Uncharted 3 events taking place at AMC Theatres all over the country, where you can purchase an early copy of the game and also play it on the silver screen.