Sony has announced details for the Starhawk public beta's staggered launch, which begins next week with early access for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
In a post on the official PlayStation Blog, senior producer Harvard Bonin said the public beta will allow Sony to test "game balance, server traffic, and general bugs."
If you're a North American PlayStation Plus subscriber, you'll be able to get in on the action next Tuesday, January 17. Just got a regular, boring PSN account? You're waiting until February 21, with a few exceptions.
Here's the complete schedule:
January 17: All PlayStation Plus subscribers and all Private Beta participants (who haven’t erased their original Private Beta files).
January 31: UNCHARTED 3 Beta key holders. These voucher codes were found inside of North American copies of UNCHARTED 3.
February 7: Visit GameStop and PlayStation on Facebook and see how you can get early voucher codes.
February 14: IGN.com (details to be revealed soon)
February 21: Everyone with a PlayStation Network account…in other words, everyone who wants in, gets in!
If you're in Europe, the schedule is slightly different, with no GameStop/IGN promotions and all other options coming a day later.