The multiplayer beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will arrive on Xbox One and PC on August 26, one week after it arrives on PlayStation 4, publisher Activision announced today.
Both betas will run for a total of five days, meaning that the PlayStation 4 beta will run from August 19-23 and the Xbox One/PC beta will run from August 26-30. This is due to the new PlayStation-exclusivity deal between Activision and Sony, which will also provide multiplayer DLC on PlayStation 30 days ahead of Xbox and PC players. Earlier this month, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg shed some light on why the publisher decided to partner with Sony over Microsoft for the next Call of Duty installment.
Details on which maps and modes will make it into the multiplayer beta will be revealed at a later date, but Activision said today that players “will have an opportunity to try the new momentum-based, chained movement system, find the perfect Specialist to fit their play style, get a feel for the new multiplayer maps, and more” during the multiplayer beta.
This multiplayer beta, which will not be available on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, will mark the first beta for a Call of Duty game since 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War, also developed by Treyarch. To obtain access to the beta, you must pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which will be released on November 6.