For Honor open beta dates are now confirmed [Updated]

Update: Ubisoft has confirmed that the For Honor open beta will, as reported, take place from February 9-12. The open beta will include the new Elimination mode, a best-of-five series of four-on-four battles with no respawns, which will be available alongside the Dominion, Brawl, and Duel modes that were in the closed beta. Nine heroes will be playable in the open beta, while a full roster of 12 will be available when the game launches. 

The open beta will also see the continuation of the War of the Factions, the persistent, three-way throwdown between the Vikings, the Samurai, and the Knights. The Vikings led the war through the closed beta, claiming 24 territories, while the Knights followed closely behind with 21, and the Samurai brought up the rear with 15.  

Original story: 

The weekend-long For Honor closed beta wrapped up yesterday, and all things considered—including the fact that some people had trouble getting it running at all—it seemed to go pretty well. And if this allegedly-leaked Twitch Prime email posted to NeoGAF is legitimate, there's no need to worry if you missed out, because an open beta is just over a week away. 

The email is intended to inform followers about upcoming "cool events" in support of For Honor being put together by Ubisoft and Twitch. It mentions the recently-concluded closed beta, and a livestream set for February 7 in which 12 celebrity "generals" will go head-to-head in a live competition. And then, after teasing "exciting announcements about the open beta," it lets the secret slip. 

"February 9th-12th is the Open beta, where you can pledge your sword to Knights, Vikings, or Samurai, then fight for your faction alongside your favorite generals!" it says. The message also states that Twitch Prime users will get special in-game loot, ten-day Champion status, and an exclusive United Factions emblem when the game launches. 

The info isn't confirmed, but assuming it's accurate, the fact that the open beta is coming so close to launch means this will really be more of a straight-up demo than any sort of actual test. Which is fine, and not to say that there won't be a launch day update, but I think it's fair to say that what you see in the "test" is what you're going to get—so have fun and don't sweat the bug reports too much. I've reached out to Ubisoft for confirmation about the dates, and will update when I receive a reply. 

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.