WARDOGS is getting a second closed beta starting September 3rd, and Bulkhead's reasoning for announcing it early is disarmingly honest. The team had planned to save the news for the FPS Games Show, but decided the hype was already climbing fast enough that announcing it without further fanfare was the smarter move. A "huge announcement" is still coming at the FPS Games Show regardless, so consider this the appetizer.
The beta runs from September 3rd through to Sunday morning UTC, just ahead of the game's Steam Early Access launch on September 10th. Pre-ordering the game guarantees your access. Everyone else can try their luck through the Steam beta system over the weekend, but Bulkhead has been upfront that there's no guarantee you'll get in – and the reason for that is more considered than it might first appear.
Why It's Closed and Not Open
Bulkhead published a fairly lengthy explanation of why the second beta isn't simply open to everyone, and it's worth reading in full. The short version: their systems are new, they need targeted stress testing rather than a general flood, and uncontrolled chaos makes it nearly impossible to diagnose what's actually breaking.
The analogy...
