Far Cry 3 multiplayer beta for PS3, Xbox 360 announced; PC gets no beta download

Written by Matt Swider on May 23, 2012

Far Cry 3 Beta News: Far Cry 3 is receiving a beta this summer before its fall release date, but the download will be for Xbox 360 or PS3, not the PC.

Carve out two weeks of your summer vacation for the Far Cry 3 beta. Ubisoft announced that its tropical island-set first-person shooter will receive a multiplayer beta during a fourteen day span of the hottest season of the year, as if you needed any more reason to stay indoors this summer.

The Far Cry 3 beta will have a closed, not open multiplayer beta, so the main way to receive an invite and obtain a beta key is to buy a copy of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier from GameStop and be a GameStop PowerUp Reward member at the same time. Buying another game from the same publisher has become the traditional push when launching a beta. It's a great method to prop up sales of another game. The best known example is the Halo 3 beta, which helped spur interest in the original Crackdown game. That game would've likely flatlined in sales had it not been for Microsoft's clever promotion.

Of course, there are always alternative ways to acquire beta keys whenever a closed beta launches. In this case, Ubisoft is also distributing 500 beta keys through its Facebook page and this official sweepstakes page. In all cases, players can choose which system, Xbox 360 or PS3, their beta key is good for. Unfortunately, while Far Cry 3 is releasing for the PC, computer gamers aren't invited to be part of this beta promotion. The download will only be good for Xbox 360 and PS3. Expect beta codes to arrive via email once you buy into or win an invite - just don't expect to start download till this summer.

Once you get into the Far Cry 3 multiplayer beta for Xbox 360 or PS3, you'll be able to go 8-on-8 and chose from six playable classes as well as multiple maps and modes. This includes the new Firestorm mode as well as exciting gameplay elements like zip-lining, combat sliding, psyche gas and barrel bombs - all of which are reasons we are looking forward to Far Cry 3 more than most of the first-person shooters releasing this fall.