Guilty Gear fans won't have long to wait to get a chance to play the long-awaited sequel to the franchise that spanned several generations. The original Guilty Gear in 1998 laid the groundwork for its sequel, Guilty Gear X, and the sequel, XX which was praised for its explosive, fast-paced action, color cast of characters, and extensive support it received in the following years. The game and its subsequent additions over the years would pave the way for future titles, including spiritual successor Blazblue.

Following the Guilty Gear Strive announcement in late 2019, a closed beta was made available for lucky players who won a lottery. A year later, Arc System Works announces an open beta for all who are interested yet missed out on the closed beta though it does come with a small caveat.

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The Guilty Gear Strive open beta will begin on February 18th at 7 PM PST and will end on February 21st at 7 AM PST. To access the open beta, players must preorder either the PS4 version or the PS5 version. This ensures inquisitive players who wish to take a sneak peek of Strive ahead of its release date will gain top priority over those with a mere passing interest. To commemorate the open beta announcement, gameplay footage was released, showing off the capabilities of several characters.

There are several details to note about the upcoming open beta for Strive. Players do not need an active PS+ subscription to participate in the beta. This bit of news is great for players who may not have access to the subscription-based service, yet would still like to participate in online matches. Players can also play against the CPU or local multiplayer, gain access to training mode, and a tutorial mode if they wish for an offline experience.

Another important detail is that all current revealed characters are accessible, except for returning character Anji Mito and a, currently unannounced, "15th character." The "15th character" is intriguing as said character will be the final one announced for the base roster. Players may expect some sort of announcement involving the "15th character" very soon, if not during or shortly after the beta is finished.

As this is an open beta, the features and details during the open beta will not reflect the final product. For players who have been wanting to scratch their Guilty Gear itch ahead of time, the weekend beta will offer many opportunities. One of the major takeaways from the upcoming beta is the implementation of rollback netcode. As rollback netcode had worked favorably for Guilty Gear in the past, it will give Arc System Works a chance to fine-tune the online experience for its players post-beta.

Guilty Gear Strive releases for PS4, PS5, and Steam on April 6th. The open beta will begin on February 18th and end on the 21st.

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Source: Guilty Gear website