Bad Guitar Games has revealed that they are now preparing FragPunk to enter closed beta soon.
They shared this message on the official FragPunk Twitter account:
“Gamescom is over, and what a ride it was
Thanks to everyone who made it out to support us!
Our sights are now set on launching the Closed Beta, sign up and get ready for chaos
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2943650/FragPunk/
Xbox: Apply through the Xbox insider hub.“
Bad Guitar also had an earlier blog post explaining the details for the closed beta. Closed beta test is coming in early October, but it looks like they want to get as many people to sign up as possible. You can sign up to get added to the closed beta now, and Xbox Series X|S gamers are finally getting added in.
If you’re playing on Steam, you just need to go to the Steam page above. There is a dedicated Request Access button for you to sign up.
On Xbox, you need to join the Xbox Insider Program, but it is open to everyone on the platform. You will need to install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Xbox Store, and then join the Xbox Insider Program that way. From there, you can see FragPunk under the Previews tab, and you can pick it and press the Join button.
Aside from adding Xbox gamers, the closed beta test will also add more players from different countries and regions. That also means Bad Guitar is adding support for more languages, including Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Bad Guitar also promises they will have special events so that players who get in the Closed Beta will have the chance to earn even more activation codes, so that they can add their friends to the beta as well. Finally, the developer promises they are applying the feedback they have received so far, so that the players can see the improvements when the Closed Beta starts.
FragPunk is entering a competitive market for sure, but at least so far, everything seems to be doing OK for them. The market seems to be particularly harsh this year – aside from Concord failing on a historically significant level, word going around is that Ubisoft is putting XDefiant on notice.
Arrowhead admitted to Helldivers 2 fans their latest expansion didn’t hit their target. You probably didn’t even notice that Starbreeze’s CEO just left the company last March, in the fallout of Payday 3’s own market failure last year.
At least, FragPunk seems to keep going with the good word of mouth, which puts it at the same level as Delta Force. Marvel Rivals and Deadlock may have also emerged as more high profile competition on the way, but that doesn’t preclude FragPunk from carving out a niche and finding its own success there.
