The Rising Thunder website is now offering free open alpha access to Rising Thunder, an upcoming fighting game from indie developer Radiant Entertainment, which includes the founder of the Evolution Championship Series. There's a new update on the developer's blog and patch notes for build 1263, which just went live. Here's word on the game:

With Rising Thunder, we want to create a game that could be an epic gathering of fighting gamers — a game without the usual barriers, where everyone is invited, and can have great games. The response so far has been way, way beyond our expectations. It’s been absolutely incredible for us to see some amazing matches, from first-time fighting game players, to people that had given up on the genre, to legendary pros from many different competitive backgrounds.