Arma 3 Alpha to be Released March 5

Tactical shooter Arma 3 will go into alpha starting on March 5, according to developer Bohemia Interactive's website. 

The alpha will not be a full version of the game, but will feature limited gameplay, including four showcase missions, limited weapons and vehicles, two multiplayer scenarios, and access to the scenario editor. Bohemia released just enough to give people a feel for the game and where the studio is at in development. 

"Testing early and often puts us on the right track towards improving performance, stability and delivering on our goal of creating a robust final release," said Jay Crowe, co-creative director. "It's also a big opportunity to get the game in the hands of our passionate community, which enables them to start work on their own creations."

Those who are looking to participate in the development of this new title can do so by pre-ordering the game at $32.99, or the deluxe edition at $49.99, which will feature extra digital maps, the soundtrack, and a free version of Arma: Cold War Assault.

For those who do not want to pre-order the game will still be able to have access to a free version of the alpha, called Arma 3 Alpha Lite, which will be available one week after the official alpha release. This version will not have multiplayer scenarios, and is only accessible via an invite from somebody who has access to the full alpha. It also does not include access to the beta, or the full game.

Seems that Bohemia is hoping to get more pre-orders through the lite version. Plus, the exclusion of multiplayer makes it very tempting.

All players who participate in the alpha will have access to the beta version, which will be released in the second quarter of this year, with the final version of the game hopefully released by Q3 2013, unless more of the developers want to get arrested doing research.