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Defy gravity and other laws of physics with 'Lawbreakers' multiplayer beta

Michael Rougeau
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LawBreakers Studio Update #4: PAX East 2017 & Closed Beta
Lawbreakers, the new game from Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, will enter a closed multiplayer beta period later in March, developer Boss Key Productions announced Monday.

The beta will not be totally open, but you can follow the links on the game’s official site to sign up. It’s scheduled to run March 16 to 19, although beta periods often get extended, especially if the servers experience any downtime during that period.

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The studio announced the beta in a studio update video posted to YouTube. Bleszinski and Rohan Rivas, Boss Key communications manager, described the beta, plus new content that will be available for fans to check out during the PAX East convention in Boston this month, including new characters, weapons, and maps. They teased that more support roles, including healers, are coming to Lawbreakers.

“We want to give everybody a chance to play it at PAX, but also it’s time to move it into your home and get it to you so that we can get your feedback,” Rivas said in the video, imploring fans to sign up for the beta.

Lawbreakers is a multiplayer first-person shooter in the vein of Overwatch and Unreal Tournament, which Bleszinski helped create almost 20 years ago. It features multiple character classes and weapon types, including melee weapons, and action that defies the laws of physics, including gravity — hence the name. The game was initially planned as a free-to-play model, but the developers announced in early 2016 that they’d shifted to a priced model that will launch exclusively on Steam.

“LawBreakers is a competitive game at heart and that means balance is a big priority to me, my team, and our community. Using a digital premium model helps ensure an even playing field by giving fans access to every available role without any barriers,” Bleszinski said at the time.

The developers will also host a panel at PAX East titled “Action After Alpha,” about Lawbreakers‘ road to beta.

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Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski’s DNA is spattered over gaming history like blood from a Gears of War headshot.
Fresh out of high school in the early ‘90s, he joined Epic Games where he laid the groundwork for competitive first-person shooters with the Unreal series, and then defined a generation of cover-based third-person shooters with his Gears of War franchise. Few designers have maintained such a high profile for so long in the gaming industry.
“My life has been pretty crazy,” he confessed to Digital Trends in an exclusive interview, “basically from my 20s into my 40s now.”

In 2012 he shocked the gaming industry by announcing his departure from Epic in order to “chart the next stage of his career.” Two years of silence later, he came back to announce a new indie studio, Boss Key, and a planned return to the genre that kicked off his career: the first-person arena shooter.

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Boss Key Productions chief Cliff Bleszinski announced a series of structural and aesthetic changes to the studio's debut title, Lawbreakers, during its panel at the Games Developers Conference on Thursday. During the presentation, titled "Surrounded by 800lb. Gorillas! Standing Up to the Competition," Bleszinski said that the first-person shooter -- originally designed to be free-to-play -- would now launch at a sub-$60 price point and would be available exclusively through Steam.

“As the game continued to take shape, we realized free-to-play wasn’t the right fit for what we’re building,” Bleszinski said. “LawBreakers is a competitive game at heart and that means balance is a big priority to me, my team, and our community. Using a digital premium model helps ensure an even playing field by giving fans access to every available role without any barriers.”

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Last week, Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski’s BossKey Productions finally unveiled the game it had been working on since last year. A fast-paced multiplayer shooter with an emphasis on mobility and verticality, LawBreakers certainly looks promising.

While the game’s trailer has gamers excited, those who prefer consoles are feeling let down, as so far the game has only been announced for the PC. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners shouldn’t give up hope yet though, as Cliff Bleszinski recently told GameSpot that there is still hope that the game could come to consoles.

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