Wild West Online’ s closed alpha will begin on Sept. 15, 612 Games revealed Wednesday, giving PC owners their first chance to play cards, start shootouts, visit the saloon and/or get into whatever other trouble they can find on the American frontier. There’s still plenty we don’t know about the Old West MMO, but those willing to pre-order the game will get some answers early next month.
612 Games hasn’t said much about Wild West Online since the game’s surprise reveal in May . An early screenshot for the project leaked shortly before the announcement and –thanks to some confusion about whether or not it was Red Dead Redemption 2 – helped build excitement for the project. Back in July, 612 also shared a six-minute gameplay video that featured footage and accompanying narration from a Wild West Online developer that confirmed gameplay mechanics, including player bounties and fast travel. Wild West Online also plans to feature in-game newspapers with a blend of stories that not only keeps track of WWO players’ accomplishments, but also share stories meant to expand the player’s understanding of the world. The video also included details on saloons, which will (for all intents and purposes) serve as local quest and entertainment hubs in each town on the Wild West Online map. Strangely, we haven’t heard a lot from 612 about the game since.
Now, 612 Games has announced that fans will finally get to experience Wild West Online for themselves in a couple weeks’ time.. The WWO closed alpha will begin Sept. 15 and continue until 612 believes Wild West Online is ready for the transition to beta testing. The studio is also accepting pre-orders for the game on its website and promising both alpha and beta access to anyone willing to purchase the $40 Pioneer or $60 Collector bundles. Those purchases will also include Steam keys, if/when the game is added to Valve’s digital store. 612 is even offering refunds (for a limited time) to anyone who changes their mind about their pre-order, but anyone who isn’t satisfied with their decision to pre-order Wild West Online only has until Sept. 27 to request their money back.
For an early look at Wild West Online, take a few minutes to watch the footage that debuted back in July. Then head down to the comments and let us know if you’re planning to check out the Wild West Online closed alpha or wait for the beta/launch build.
Wild West Online is in development for PC. The game enters closed alpha on Sept. 15.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Wild West Online news in 2017 and however long 612 Games supports Wild West Online in the years ahead.
