Good news for all you PS4 Call of Duty fans, Activision have today announced that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare beta will be made available to any and all PS4 players who want to give it a go.
That means no preorder, just a want and desire to play. The news was announced on the Infinity Ward Twitter today:
Weekend 1 is done! We're hungry for more valuable feedback so Weekend 2 will be open to all PS4 players! #IWBeta pic.twitter.com/AVgizO83op
— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) October 18, 2016
The first weekend of the beta has just concluded, being only available to PS4 players who have preordered the game. The original plan was that it would re-commence next weekend and open up to Xbox One players who had also preordered. Whilst this still remains the case, Xbox One owners will be able to try out the beta providing they have preordered the game and registered for the beta on the Call of Duty website, this is no longer a requirement if you own a PS4.
Detailing the announcement on the Activision blog, the lead designer for multiplayer, Activision thanked the community for the support in the beta thus far:
“Thank you to the awesome Call of Duty community and your response to the Beta. We’ve been watching players experiment with different Rigs, all unique to their playstyles, and dig into our new weapon crafting system. We’ve also introduced a new matchmaking system to provide the highest quality matches possible, which the Beta has helped us optimize for launch. The feedback and player data is exactly what we need in order to make our day one experience on November 4 the best it can be in the final game. So much so that we’d like to open the beta up even further starting this Friday for all PS4 players. We are constantly fine tuning and balancing the MP experience to meet player expectations and our design goals, so huge thanks from all of us at the studio.”
You’re probably thinking what I thought, why not Xbox One players too?
There’s a few theories that I can come up with:
- This is part of the marketing/exclusivity deal with Sony and as such hinders Xbox One players from this benefit, “go buy a PS4” and all that.
- PS4 is now the preferred format for Call of Duty, i.e. e-sports and the like and as such needs to be the priority in terms of optimization and ensuring it works the best it can.
A larger debate on the morals of exclusivity and getting along could ensue here. However, my thinking is that, for any games company, maximizing sales opportunities is surely priority and why would you exclude a potential buyer base…unless someone already lined your pockets, then it’s less important.
Does that mean Xbox One players are less important to Infinity Ward and Activision? Probably not but we know they probably are to Sony.
Have you tried out the Infinite Warfare beta? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below or on the RGM Forums.
