Perfect World Entertainment
announces open beta testing is now underway in
Dungeons & Dragons
Neverwinter, Cryptic Studios' upcoming MMORPG. Signups are underway at
the game's official website. The game
will be free to download and play, and with the promise of no further character
wipes, this amounts to a soft launch:
The major milestone of Open Beta
marks the beginning of unrestricted access to Neverwinter and its content
creation system, the Foundry, along with no further character wipes. All skill
upgrades, profession choices, personal customizations, companions and mounts are
persistent and shape the way adventurers rebuild the city of Neverwinter, saving
it from Valindra Shadowmantle's evil forces. Neverwinter's Foundry further
enables and empowers gamers and authors to create their own unique adventures,
publish their own self-generated content directly to the game world, review the
missions and quests of others and even tip creators with in-game currency.
"After four successful Beta Weekends and many months of internal Alpha tests, we
are thrilled to be in Open Beta," said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and
COO, Craig Zinkievich. "On behalf of the entire team at Perfect World and
Cryptic Studios, I'd like to thank the Founders, Beta Weekend participants,
Alpha testers, fans, and press for their feedback and continued support in
making Neverwinter the best game we've ever launched."
Open Beta also brings a new feature to the Neverwinter community. Neverwinter's
Gateway is a web portal that allows players to remotely access in-game status
information via their desktops, tablets, or smartphones. In its initial state,
players can craft, view their characters, buy and sell in the Auction House,
monitor guild activity and daily events, and access their mailboxes.