Guilty Gear Strive has opened up a cross-platform network beta test for players to participate in, giving players the chance to stress test the online play across three different platforms. The game has become a sleeper hit for fighting game developer Arc System Works ever since last year, becoming a critical and commercial success. This momentum has continued with a complete first season of characters, with Guilty Gear Strive's second season pass also releasing its first character this year.
Among other additions, Arc System Works also revealed a rough roadmap for Guilty Gear Strive throughout 2022-2023, which includes the release windows of the characters included in the second season pass, along with the Crossplay Beta test. While it was initially announced to be held in mid-September, the test wasn't available until recently. Players can jump into this beta test right now, across all three platforms that the game is available on.
Arc System Works notes that this beta test for Guilty Gear Strive is its own separate application that is disconnected from the main game currently available for sale. This demo can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store or Steam, which will be running from October 13-17. Arc System Works emphasizes this application download and beta test participation is free and available for anyone to play even if they haven't purchased the game before.
Nine game modes are available to play in this open beta test, including the tutorial, training room, VS mode, and online modes. 21 characters of Guilty Gear Strive's roster will be available in this demo as well, which includes DLC Characters like Happy Chaos, Baiken, Testament, and even the recently released Bridget. This essentially provides players a free test of the currently available roster in the main game, giving them a way to try out some characters they haven't bought yet or just the game in general.
Arc System Works detailed some of the features currently exclusive in this cross-platform test of Guilty Gear Strive. One of these is a brand-new icon that has been added next to the player's name that indicates they are on a different platform, shown by the crossing arrows icon. There also is an option for players to opt out of participating in cross-platform matches, with a setting that can be toggled in the options menu, which is on by default. Arc System Works concludes that the beta test's save data will not be carried over into the main game, along with other necessities to participate, such as a PS Plus subscription on the PlayStation platform.
Guilty Gear Strive is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.