Lock And Reload: Turtle Rock Confirms Second Alpha Test For Evolve

For those who didn’t gain access to Evolve’s preliminary alpha test earlier this year, publisher 2K has confirmed that eager monster hunters will get another bite at the cherry when a second bout of testing — aptly called the “Big Alpha” — goes live in the coming months.

During last weekend’s PAX Prime in Seattle, Evolve had quite literally a monstrous presence, and those attendees who survived the convention’s feet-numbing queues were rewarded with an alpha code after playing a session at the game’s dedicated booth.

If you weren’t able to be at PAX Prime, though, fear not: 2K also outlined a variety of other ways for gamers to obtain codes for the “Big Alpha.” As expected, you can keep up to date with planned giveaways through the social media outlets — namely Facebook and Twitter — or, alternatively, you can head on over to Turtle Rock’s dedicated forums for a chance to snatch a code when they become available.

It’s worth keeping in mind that Evolve’s follow-up round of testing has been billed as a ‘selective alpha,’ which essentially permits a limited number of players into the proverbial arena to put the multiplayer shooter through its paces. Of course, it’s understood that the inevitable beta will be available exclusively to Xbox One users come January.

Initially, Evolve was due to release in October, 2014 — which was undoubtedly jam-packed with notable releases until only a few weeks ago — before Turtle Rock decided to postpone the anticipated shooter until February to further refine the in-game mechanics. Speaking about the delay, here’s an official statement from the studio itself:

“As stated on the Take-Two Interactive earnings call, 2K and Turtle Rock Studios are extending the development of Evolve by a few months to allow enough time to fully realize the vision for Evolve…we are now certain we are headed in the right direction with the game and we are confident in delivering a genre-defining product when Evolve launches on February 10, 2015.”

As vague and frustrating as Turtle Rock’s reasoning may be, delaying one of the most anticipated releases of 2014 for a few months is good news for the game as a whole and will no doubt increase Evolve’s staying power when it finally releases on February 10th, 2015.