Mechwarrior Online Community Warfare open beta begins

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The long-awaited Mechwarrior Online Community Warfare beta has finally begun. The new multiplayer mode pits the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere against the tremendous power of the Clans, with new maps, DropShip reinforcements, and an attack-and-defend "Invasion" game mode.

The Community Warfare beta actually began a little earlier than most players expected, but Piranha Games President Russ Bullock said in the announcement that the team pushed to get it out as quickly as possible so there would be time to fix any game-breaking problems before everyone took off for the holidays.

"This phase 2 release of CW is certainly not the absolute end game product that fulfills every desire of the hard core Battletech player, but I don't want to minimize it either, it's truly a game changer," he wrote. "Within Community Warfare I anticipate we will see hundreds if not thousands of matches played every day within this concept of fighting for the great factions of the inner sphere with planets changing possession and the map reflecting that."

Community Warfare has undergone significant testing, but Bullock acknowledged that that there will still be problems with balance between attacking and defending forces. "We need the live populations to show us the untold number of strategies that will present themselves," he continued. "We will be watching and listening to adjust the levels and game systems within CW to make it as competitive and fun as possible."

Details about the Community Warfare beta, including a proper breakdown of the Invasion mode and DropShip mechanic, are up now at mwomercs.com.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

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.

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