Halo Reach Beta FAQ

Halo Reach Beta FAQ, This FAQ answers general questions over beta access to Halo: Reach in hopes to clear the confusion and misconceptions that are regularly posted on this forum. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc. about the information below, feel free to PM me or send me a message through Xbox LIVE.

The Halo: Reach Beta will be available May 3, 2010

Q. What exactly is the Halo: Reach beta?

Halo: Reach is a First Person Shooter (FPS) and is being developed by Bungie; it will also be the last Halo game developed by them. Halo: Reach will have a multiplayer beta much like Halo 3 had a multiplayer beta prior to its release. There are no details on weapons, vehicles, etc. that will be available in the beta. We can assume however it will have similar gameplay mechanics to the other Halo titles.



Q. Why are we running a playtest already? Isn’t this what the public beta is for?

Luke Timmins. Technically this is our third “Bungie-scale” playtest, where we hand out a ton of devkits across the studio and tell people to go home and play matchmaking, but in reality the test team and MP/UI engineers have conducted a few dozen mini-playtests in the last half year or so.

Playtesting at people’s homes is really important part of the MP testing ecosystem. We have tools to simulate real world connections (packet loss, latency, disconnects, etc.), but there is no substitute for the real deal.

Lars Bakken. It is super (and I mean super, duper) important that we are playtesting our stuff all the time. It's how we make stuff extra sweet. To that end, we are always making sure our games play well, whether that's in a lab or over Partner Net. So, we're already playing the game on a daily basis. The public beta is a great way for us to stress our Matchmaking and other sub-systems on a much bigger environment. In a takehome playtest we're lucky to get 80 people together to play on a Wednesday night. With the public beta, we're talking about millions of people having access, so it's a scale that's closer to what it would be like when the game launches.

Derek Carroll. We actually run playtests every day in the lab. Lots of new stuff goes in every day, so it’s important to test our work in the game to answer the only question that really matters: Is it fun when you actually play it? This week’s big take-home playtest represents several months of work all tied up with a bow for everyone in the studio to play without a lot of hand-holding.

Public betas are an important source of feedback, but by then it’s about polish and tweaking. This playtest is about us feeling good moving forward as a team.

Playing at home is a totally different experience from playing in a lab with a bunch of co-workers, so it can be very instructive. Things you may not see while at work become obvious when you’re sitting on your couch in the dark, blastin’ fools. Also: Subwoofer.

Q. How do I gain access to the Halo: Reach beta? Do I have to sign-up via website or through Microsoft Games Studio?

Access to the Halo: Reach beta comes with every copy of Halo 3: ODST. The beta will be available when Bungie enables it through the Halo 3: ODST menu. Players will then be able to access the Halo: Reach beta only using the Halo 3: ODST campaign disc* through a menu option; much how the Halo 3 beta was accessed via Crackdown. Simply have a copy of Halo 3: ODST and you have access to the Halo: Reach beta as confirmed below:

Buy Halo 3: ODST and receive an invitation to participate in the Halo: Reach Xbox LIVE multiplayer beta. If you want in, hold onto your copy of Halo 3: ODST and stay tuned to Bungie.net and Xbox.com for more details.

As well, some members of the community will be awarded an access code via email to the Halo: Reach beta. An email from Microsoft states the following:

What is Xbox LIVE doing for me?
• To thank you for being a loyal Xbox LIVE customer, we are giving you a free, three-month LIVE Gold membership and 400 Microsoft Points for you to use as you choose on Xbox LIVE.
• In addition, because you've been so loyal to Halo, we are inviting you to participate in the exclusive Halo: Reach Beta.


It does not matter if your Halo 3: ODST campaign disc is used or new, you will have access to the beta either way.
Q. Will the Halo: Reach beta be available on the dashboard for the public?

No, as stated above the beta will not be available on the dashboard or any other means for the public to download. This is not a demo and is therefore restricted to certain individuals, i.e. those who have the Halo 3: ODST campaign disc.

Q. How long is the beta going to be available?

At this time, there is no information concerning how long the Halo: Reach beta will last. As we get closer to the beta release, Bungie will most likely inform the community about the specifics of the beta.