Battlefleet Gothic: Armada brings the Tau Empire to open beta tomorrow

The Tau Empire is coming to Battlefleet Gothic: Armada—tomorrow, in fact, although only in beta. The Tau fleet will be free for everyone who either preordered the game or purchased it during the first two months of release (prior to June 21, in other words) but the beta will be open to everyone who wants to give it a go, regardless of when or how they bought it. 

The Tau possess highly advanced technology that gives them the ability to inflict devastating damage to enemy fleets long before they reach boarding distances, and their Torpedoes and Ordnances can be improved even further through a wide array of upgrades. The Tau also have a “total dedication to the Greater Good philosophy,” although I'm unclear as to what sort of practical value its societal doctrines will bring to a life-and-death throwdown with the Orks. 

The instructions for accessing the Tau beta are available on Steam, and are very straightforward: Right-click Battlefleet Gothic: Armada in your Steam library, select Properties, hit the Betas tab, and then select the Tau Public Beta option from the dropdown menu. After the update, you're ready to go.   

The Battlefleet Gothic: Armada Tau beta begins on September 8, and is expected to run until early next week. A full launch date hasn't been announced, nor has pricing, but developer Tindalos Interactive said it will be out before the end of September and I'd expect it to sell for the same price as the Space Marines DLC, which goes for $7/£5.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.