When Does the Metal Gear Survive Beta Start?

At Gamescom 2016, Konami released the first trailer for its latest entry in the Metal Gear franchise, Metal Gear Survive. Though Survive is stepping away from its story-heavy counterparts, it aimed to retain many elements from the largely successful Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain while shifting gears to survival horror and base building.

Taking place immediately after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Survive sees players controlling a new face in the series. Sucked into a wormhole after the destruction of Mother Base, soldiers from Big Boss’ Militaires Sans Frontieres are forced to survive in a world ravaged by zombie-like monsters.

Survive tasks players with gathering supplies, building bases, and surviving onslaughts of hordes of crystalline zombies while trying to find a way back home. The reveal was met with plenty of disdain from fans of the core Metal Gear Solid series, but Konami will still be hosting an online beta for Metal Gear Survive, hoping to continue to build hype for the Feb. 20 release date.

The beta, which will be held on PS4 and Xbox One consoles only, will run from Jan. 18 through Jan. 21. Metal Gear Survive does have a single player story mode, but the beta will focus more on the co-op experience that will likely drive the game’s success. During those dates, players will be able to enter co-op missions that will have them building, defending, and fighting alongside friends and random players.

The beta will showcase the base elements of the game in an attempt to prove that, while not a canonical sequel in the Metal Gear Solid series, Survive fits in with The Phantom Pain’s emphasis on strategic base building and recruitment.

Players that partake in the beta will earn items for the game’s full release, including a FOX HOUND nameplate and Metal Gear Rex head accessory, calling back to the mechanical foe of Metal Gear Solid (1998). No progress gained during the beta will carry over to the full game when it releases on Feb. 20.