RollerCoaster Tycoon World's First Beta Coming Soon

RollerCoaster Tycoon World developer Nvizzio will kick off its new game's first public beta this coming weekend, but only those willing to preorder the game will get to try it out.

The beta begins on Friday, October 30, and will be available until Monday, November 2. It should be available beginning at around 3 PM PDT on October 30, though that time is subject to change.

Nvizzio describes this as a "technical demo focusing on our coaster building system" that "will show tycoons just a small taste of the sandbox experience and great parks you will be able to build when the game launches."

The developer hopes to use feedback from the beta to tweak the game; specifically, it hopes to hear what players think about the rollercoaster builder and systems, as well as user configurations. As a result, only a limited portion of the game is available--financial and peep simulation will be disabled in this first beta. You will, however, have access to the coaster builder, coaster riding, and other features outlined on the official website.

In order to access the beta, you'll need to have preordered the game; if you did so through a store other than Steam, you'll need to activate your key on Steam. This will add the game to your library, and you'll be able to download the beta version (weighing in at 3 GB) whenever it goes live on Friday. No other ways into the beta have been announced, though fortunately those who are in are free to share videos and their impressions of the game.

At least one more beta weekend is planned prior to the game's launch on December 10. Additional tests could be scheduled, but for now, Nvizzio says it's going with just two because "we know that with the timing of each beta and launch we can take what we see from each weekend, tweak the game, and release an update with your feedback incorporated."

World is the first non-mobile game in the series since RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 in 2004. When we first saw it, there was some backlash because the visuals were deemed lackluster. This prompted a delay as the graphics were changed in response to that feedback from fans.