14 DAY TRIAL // CCP, the developer behind the upcoming Dust 514 free-to-play online shooter, has confirmed that it's going to continue the closed beta stage for the game until the end of the year and hopes that it will be able to open it to the general public at the beginning of 2013.
Dust 514 promises to deliver not just an intense shooter experience that will be completely free-to-play on the PlayStation 3 platform, but also one that's deeply interconnected to CCP's other major project, the EVE Online MMO.
In order to make sure that the project behaves as intended, CCP's Chief Marketing Officer, David Reid, told Joystiq that the current close beta would be held until the end of the year and that an open test phase should kick off at the beginning of 2013.
"We'll be in closed beta for the rest of the year," Reid said. "While determining the precise date for commencing open beta definitely will depend on player feedback, we're feeling confident that it won't be much longer after year end."
The current closed beta is open to PlayStation Plus members around the world while those who are interested, but don't have such a subscription, can manifest their desire to play on the game's website.
According to Reid, the closed beta has already seen hundreds of thousands of players participate in it since its August release, which is great considering CCP wants this to be a "real beta" not just an extended demo of the final game.
"Given the technical complexity of being the first developer to ever connect a console game to a live running PC MMO [EVE Online]. This takes time to ensure we're meeting the quality bar we've set for ourselves and our players expect, and we're committed to doing this right."
Depending on the results of the closed and open betas, you can expect Dust 514 to finally make its appearance on the PlayStation 3 sometime next year.