The Humankind release date draws ever nearer, which means the opportunity to play the upcoming 4X game ahead of its arrival is also approaching. Tonight, developer Amplitude Studios and publisher Sega have announced that Humankind's closed beta is coming up very soon – and, while we'll have to wait another day for an exact date, the studios have revealed what we can expect when it does roll around.
The upcoming Humankind closed beta will go beyond the scope of previous OpenDevs – what Amplitude calls pre-launch fan playtesting of "targeted slices" of the game – which have focussed more on the strategy game's early stages. This time, the closed beta will give fans their first ever taste of Humankind's industrial era – that, or 200 turns, depending on which comes first. This represents five of the game's total six launch eras, Amplitude explains.
The beta will give fans ten new industrial cultures, letting them build railways to get goods and troops moved quickly and at a low cost, and take advantage of oil and coal to get the economy booming. Plus, there'll be the chance to engage in the biggest battles in the game yet, in which you can call on long-range artillery bombardment and attacks from the skies to keep enemies at bay.
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