A Crucible closed beta marks the next strange step in Relentless Studios and Amazon Games' newest creation. The publicly-available free-to-play game is changing things up by taking a step back, although not too much will change for players on the ground.
If you're unfamiliar with Crucible, you can get a feel for its core Heart of the Hives Game Mode in this Overview Trailer:
Crucible launched just over a month ago, but it hasn't exactly been a smashing success. SteamCharts shows that an average of 3,575.8 players (and a peak of 10,600 players) gave Amazon's free-to-play shooter a try in May 2020. The numbers are even worse for the last 30 days: 408.6 average players and a peak of 2,518, an 88.57% decline.
Something clearly wasn't working right, and that's one of the reasons the developers announced a slew of changes for the game earlier this month. Now, even more changes are coming with a reversion to a Closed Beta state.
How Will the Crucible Closed Beta Work?
Here's a breakdown of the developer update that announces the Crucible closed beta: not much is changing is for current players. The game will still be available 24/7 and you won't have to download a new copy of the game or activate a beta branch on Steam.
The developers will be scheduling dedicated time each week to play with the community and solicit feedback. That focus on getting useful feedback will be expanded with the creation of a community council composed of players of all skill levels. More information on the weekly play schedule and community council will be arriving soon.
Perhaps most critically, the developer update implies that the game will be shutting down easy public access via Steam:
If you’ve got friends who want to be part of the Crucible beta, you can encourage them to get the game before tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. PT (6 p.m. CET). In the near future, newly interested folks will be able to sign up through playcrucible.com.
If you're even remotely curious about Crucible, it's probably best to add Crucible to your account on Steam right now — it may very well go away by tomorrow morning. After that, it looks like you'll have to register at playcrucible.com to get into the Crucible closed beta.
What do you think of Crucible reverting to a closed beta state? Do you think this is the right move? Let us know in the comments below!
