Announced in June, Sega’s space shooter Hyenas has begun inviting European players to its closed alpha starting September 23. Those who signed up for the alpha sometime in the past few months will want to carefully comb through their e-mail inboxes for an invite to try out the team-based title.
Initial closed alpha tests began popping up for players in the U.S. back in July, making this the first time that Americans and those across the pond will be able to try out the title together. Currently, testing is only available on PC, though Hyenas will also be releasing for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S sometime next year. Creative Assembly has confirmed that testing will soon be opening on consoles as well in the near future.
Creative Assembly, also the developers behind Total War and Alien: Isolation, has described the upcoming game as a “ballsy entry into the most competitive genre in gaming,” though some critics are already questioning such a bold statement. Ed Thorn, a senior staff writer at Rock Paper Shotgun, gave his thoughts in a piece after playing the title at Gamescom, stating that Hyenas doesn’t do enough to separate itself from the pack. Given the highly-competitive multiplayer shooter market, we can only hope that this alpha period helps the dev team to add a little more polish to the title ahead of next year’s launch.
The game’s executive producer, David Nicholson, also commented on the importance of alpha testing when the game was first announced in June. “We believe that the key to the success of any modern shooter is understanding what players want to see and where they want their experience to take them,” he said. “We know we have something interesting to offer, but we also know the odds are against us. To compete with the biggest games in the industry, we need to hear players’ voices—directly and early on.”
Hyenas is set in an alternate future in which climate change has caused the destruction of Earth. As expected, those in the upper echelons of society are able to flee to Mars, while those on the bottom are left to deal with the fallout. Before heading to the red planet, the rich decided to come back to Earth one last time, stealing everything they might want or need before venturing out into the vast recesses of space. Those left on our home planet aren’t too thrilled with this development, and decide to invade the ships to steal their stuff back. Players can expect ample pop culture references and plenty of goofy weapons, from foam cannons to shields tough enough to stop bullets with ease.
Hyenas is scheduled to release in 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
