Respawn Entertainment is hosting a Titanfall 2 open multiplayer technical test from August 19 through August 21, featuring two all new gameplay modes.

Titanfall 2's October 28 launch day looms, but fans hungering for anything Titanfall 2 will be pleased to hear that Respawn Entertainment has something special lined up for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players. Today the studio announced two upcoming multiplayer technical tests, each open to all players, to help evaluate the game's servers and backend systems before launch. Pilots, gear up, because the first tech test starts on Friday, August 19.

Running from August 19 through August 21, the first Titanfall 2 tech test will feature two modes and two maps. Bounty Hunt, an all new 5v5 mode, pushes players and their titans to compete over resources dropped from waves of AI grunts from the Remnant Fleet. Pilots vs. Pilots, as its name implies, is an 8v8 pilots-only mode with a heavy focus on mobility and combat skills. The Boomtown underground IMC facility and Homestead commune will be available for both modes.

A second weekend technical test will follow the first, running August 26 through August 28. Test two will include all of the content from the first, but with an additional mode and map. Like Bounty Hunt, Amped Hardpoints is a completely new mode for Titanfall. The 6v6 game type is akin to the original game's Hardpoint Domination, but defending a Hardpoint allows a team to amp it and souble score. Forward Base Kodai, an IMC substation, creates an interesting vertical dynamic allowing titans onto the building's roof.

Also worth noting is that only two of Titanfall 2's six new Titans will be available to play for the two technical tests.

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As exciting as the announcement of Titanfall 2's open multiplayer tests are, there's an elephant in the room that Respawn has gone out of its way to address. That elephant being the absence of the test on PC. Respawn CEO Vince Zampella released a statement to help explain, "Why not PC?":

"Two big issues from a development standpoint: hardware variety & “min spec” optimization. We’re still making a lot of tweaks and changes to the renderer, the game, and effects so we haven’t run the game through the hardware compatibility lab yet to detect and handle a large variety of hardware - video cards, CPUs etc. Quite frankly, we aren't ready to deal with that yet, we are still making the game better. We also haven't done enough work to fully support our 'Min Spec' on PC yet. So, currently the PC game isn’t as easy to throw out for testing as the console is, because of the additional variables and configurations that we need to support."

Vince then followed up his explanation with an apology:

"We realize this is a big disappointment for our PC fans, but we feel this allows us to concentrate on the real purpose of the tech test and focus on the server stability and scalability. Rest assured we’re confident in our ability to deliver a great PC experience for launch. We appreciate your understanding, and we look forward to seeing everyone on The Frontier this October."

The omission of a PC technical test, or a follow-up open beta, is obviously going to be disappointing to those planning to pick up Titanfall 2 for the platform. Yet Vince provided an especially candid reasoning for the lack of a test. It's rather telling that in this day and age PC shooters can't put out beta tests because of the negative marketing implications, but such is the reality of the current social media landscape. An unfinished PC technical test would get torn apart.

It's doubtful that the lack of a PC test will hamper the fun of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players, however. Hopefully their general excitement will be enough for the entire Titanfall 2 community.

Titanfall 2 is scheduled for launch on October 28 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Find out more about the shooter's open multiplayer tech tests on the game's official website.