Dust 514 staying in closed beta until 2013

Dust 514 will remain in closed beta through the end of 2012, according to CCP executive David Reid.

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With the considerable backing of EVE Online on its side, CCP can afford to take its time with Dust 514. The PlayStation 3 tie-in game that aims to outlive its platform entered closed beta this year, and will stay in closed beta until sometime early next year, according to the developer.

"We'll be in closed beta through the end of 2012, but it won't take much longer," CCP's David Reid told Eurogamer. "With a bet this big you want to get things right." He notes that some parts of the game have some "rough edges," because it's not simply a launch demo.

Right now, he says, the focus is to make the game more accessible for new players, since some have found it a bit hard to penetrate. "The big challenge is the first ten minutes," he said. "We want to make it as accessible as Call of Duty and Battlefield. It's about getting people interested, then getting them down that rabbit hole into the EVE universe. Pretty soon they'll be at [annual convention] Fanfest getting a tattoo."

Making adjustments like that are longer-term projects than the trend of simply using a beta for stress-testing servers, so it makes sense that the test would go well into next year. After that, it may have to refocus itself on future consoles as Sony prepares whatever is to come next.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 2, 2012 1:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Dust 514 staying in closed beta until 2013.

    Dust 514 will remain in closed beta through the end of 2012, according to CCP executive David Reid.

    • reply
      November 2, 2012 1:44 PM

      What is the point anymore?

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        November 2, 2012 1:52 PM

        what is the point of your question? you are extremely non-specific.

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          November 2, 2012 2:02 PM

          [deleted]

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            November 2, 2012 2:27 PM

            Exactly. Thought it was pretty damn obvious. Not only is this an MMO on the console with the least active online population but it's also right at the end of the platform's life cycle since new consoles are assumed to debut in 2013. This is a PC centric game. It makes no sense to hamstring a major, expensive project like this by tying it to the PS3's ancient and memory limited hardware. That 256MB limit is going to be a major stumbling block if the game ever became popular (which is won't if it stays on the PS3). Unless they got a boatload of money from Sony, whomever made the call to ship this game for the PS3 has no foresight.

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              November 2, 2012 7:09 PM

              I doubt Sony will get directly involved since the game will tend to cannibalize Planetside 2 players.

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        November 2, 2012 2:31 PM

        So it can launch after the CoD wank fest has died down like anyone sane company would do.

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      November 2, 2012 2:13 PM

      I hate you CCP for making that shit PS3 exclusive.

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      November 2, 2012 2:32 PM

      [deleted]

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