DICE is getting ahead of the expected wave of Gamescom news this week, announcing the Battlefield 5 open beta dates before the opening of the Cologne-based gaming event. The open beta will kick off on September 4, 2018 for EA Access, Origin Access, and fans who pre-ordered the title, with the general public invited to hop in on September 6, 2018. DICE didn't give any specifics on how long the beta will run for, though more information is expected to arrive as the date of the Battlefield 5 open beta approaches. All gamers will be able to pre-load the beta on September 3.

The open beta will feature the Rotterdam map that was shown off last week, allowing gamers to test out Conquest Mode in the devastated city. An Artic Fjord map will also be available for both Conquest Mode and Grand Operations, which is an evolution of the Operations mode from Battlefield 1. While the former version featured 64 player combat as they attacked and defended objectives, the new version will have 64 players getting a variety of objectives across a span of multiple in-game days that will determine an overall winner. Players of the hour-long mode will be in for a war of attrition, where being victorious on one day means better supplies for the next.

The beta will also offer a glimpse at Tides of War, which brings forth a new narrative for players to progress through every few months. The open beta will include a 5-part chapter, and gamers who complete it will unlock an in-game dog tag in the full game.

Developing an overarching narrative throughout periodic content drops for a multiplayer mode is an ambitious project, but so is EA's drastic move away from its traditional post-launch DLC content for the Battlefield series. The company has ditched the season pass model of previous iterations, instead offering multiple live services in an effort to keep gamers coming back.

Despite the significant multiplayer change up, not everyone is convinced that Battlefield 5 will come out ahead of other October releases like Red Dead Redemption 2 and rival shooter Call of Duty: Blackout. While the competition from Activision has gone firmly futuristic, EA evidently believes that fans are still hungry for World War II-era content, and that's something Battlefield 5 looks like it will deliver in spades.

Battlefield 5 will release on October 11, 2018 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: DICE