The Monster Hunter Wilds beta is now live

Fire off those SOS flares, hunters: the Monster Hunter Wilds beta test is now live on Steam.

Anyone and everyone with a PC (or PS5, or Xbox) can join the second Wilds open beta, which began at 7 pm Pacific on February 6th and runs until the same time on Sunday, February 9th. If that timing tragically doesn’t work for you, you’ll have a second crack at it: Capcom’s running a repeat from February 13th to 16th, also beginning at 7 pm Pacific time.

Hit the link above for our full rundown on the beta, including what monsters you’ll be able to fight and how the game balance and performance of this build differ from the launch version of the game coming February 27.

To start the beta on Steam, you need to “request access” on the Steam page, but don’t worry about being denied; there’s no lottery system or limit to the number of people who can join the MHW beta. As soon as you click the button, you’ll automatically be granted access and be able to download the installer. It requires about 24GB of disk space.

Even if you don’t have time to play as soon as the beta’s live, you might want to launch it anyway. It takes several minutes to compile shaders before you can jump into the action.

While you’re waiting for those shaders to compile (or while you’re licking your wounds from any hunts that go south), check out the rest of our Monster Hunter Wilds coverage.