The Darktide pre-order beta is set to begin, letting those who’ve bought the game in advance jump into Hive Tertium early to start cracking some heretic skulls. A blog post from Fatshark a couple of days back confirms that anyone who’s pre-ordered the game will be able to play the beta, so you won’t have to buy an upgraded edition or anything.
It’s unclear as of yet whether all of the game’s features will be unlocked when the pre-order beta launches, but Fatshark says “It will be critical to helping us fine-tune the game before launch on November 30th,” so some aspects may still be a work-in-progress. Here I’ll give you a rundown of Darktide pre-order beta release times, as well as what’s currently known about whether progress will carry over from the beta to the full release.
What time does the Darktide pre-order beta begin?
The Darktide pre-order beta begins on November 17, but it’s open to everyone who has pre-ordered the game. The beta will be available up until launch on November 30. Here’s what time it releases for different regions:
US East Coast: 1 pm ESTUS West Coast: 10 am PSTUK: 6 pm GMTEurope: 8 pm CESTJapan: 3 am JST (November 18)Australia: 5 am AEDT (November 18)New Zealand: 7 am NZDT (November 18)
According to Fatshark, pre-loading likely won’t be an option for this beta, so these times are when you can start installing the game through Steam. Darktide will also be available on Xbox PC Games Pass when it releases.
Will Darktide pre-order beta progress carry over to full release?
This is currently a bit of an unknown, but here’s what Fatshark says on beta progress wipes as of November 10:
“Being real, I don’t think we will ever be able to confirm 100% that progress will stay from POB (pre-order beta) to launch. That said, we want to keep it! And we’re pretty sure that any issues that arise that mean we have to wipe will happen pretty quickly. So if you’re concerned, take it easy for the first few days. Every day that goes without a wipe reduces the chance of there being one quite significantly.”
Even if it is pre-order access, it’s still a beta, so it’s understandable that some issues could still arise.