Ghost Recon's daring new battle royale, Frontlines, will be put in front of players for the first time this weekend. So when is the beta starting exactly? And can you still be a part of it?
When Ghost Recon Frontline was announced, every long-term fan of the franchise had a bit of a meltdown. Perhaps for good reason; whenever a Battle Royale is introduced into a franchise, it can spell the death of the game's original format, even if it's a commercial success. Just look at Titanfall and Apex. It was supposed to bring more players into the Titanfall games, instead it ended up replacing them. And for Ghost Recon fans especially, the game filled a tactical niche that very few triple-A studios still attempt.
Will Frontline mean the death of traditional Ghost Recon games? It's too early to tell. But on the positive side, the team behind Ghost Recon showed they were capable of making great large-scale maps with Wildlands, so perhaps Battle Royale fans can rejoice at least. We'll find out this weekend when the game begins its first round of beta testing. You can find details on when the beta begins and how to join beneath.
When does the Ghost Recon Frontline Beta begin?
Ghost Recon Frontline will be available to play between 18:00-21:00 CET on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend (January 28-30). Such limited playtime won't allow players to get into the depths of the game, but it should allow them to get a sense of it. More importantly, it allows Ubisoft to stress-test their servers and get critical feedback. You won't have the whole weekend available to play because this is a closed beta test under strict NDA. Before you get too worried about that, though, we've got leakers like this guy to rely on:
A closed BETA test for Ghost Recon: Frontline starts this Friday until Jan 30th. Got any questions? Ask away! pic.twitter.com/vQpjTZTxfR
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) January 26, 2022
And believe us, Tom Henderson, and a great many other leakers are going to be sharing as much as they can over the weekend. NDA's really don't achieve much in our modern gaming culture.
The game is available to preload now (16 GB approx), but you'll need Ubisoft Connect, and as we said, it won't be playable until Friday night at the earliest.
How can you join the Ghost Recon Frontline Beta?
You have to be selected by Ubisoft to playtest Ghost Recon Frontline. This is a closed beta test for EU players, but as long as you've signed up to be a Ubisoft playtester, and you live in Europe, you might receive the email inviting you to the beta any day now.
I know that probably wasn't the news you wanted to hear. But there are so many great games coming out this month, why not enjoy some Horizon: Forbidden West or Elden Ring instead?