Kickstarter update for Wasteland 2 has the latest from inXile entertainment on their upcoming RPG sequel/remake. The post offers lots of details about the world map and prospects for exploring and surviving the game world. There is also a progress report on backer rewards, but of greater interest the status they provide for early beta testing:

You’re all no doubt anxious to get your hands on the Early Beta and we’re anxious to get it to you! We’re now in the stage where we have distributed standalone copies of the Early Beta to a small group of external individuals as a test run. This is the final stage where we ensure it is up to our standards and runs on a variety of machines, and we’ll then be ready to get it to you.

Early Beta will only be distributed through Steam, as called out in the original Kickstarter reward tiers. The final release will – of course – be available through a wide variety of channels; but running the Early Beta through Steam is the optimal option. Any other solution would require a non-trivial investment of resources into Early Beta distribution; we feel those resources are better spent on the general quality, stability and scope of the game.