Secret World beta begins May 11

PC gamers can enter Funcom's Secret World six weeks ahead of the game's launch…if they preorder the title. Publisher Electronic Arts today announced that beginning today, players can reserve their copy of the game for guaranteed access to all beta weekends.

Beta access periods will be held "most weekends" until The Secret World's launch on June 19. The game was recently delayed to that date so Funcom could add "even more polish."

On top of securing beta weekend access for The Secret World, gamers who preorder the title will be guaranteed up to a four-day head start ahead of the game's launch this June. Additionally, players will be rewarded with an in-game experience boost item, an in-game T-shirt, and a pet.

To date, more than 750,000 have signed up to beta-test The Secret World. A closed beta period for the game is currently ongoing, with Funcom drawing from the community to complement its internal testers.

Announced for the Xbox 360 and PC in 2007, The Secret World posits an alternate universe in which a modern-day world has been torn asunder by the reemergence of magic and other occult activity. Players will join one of three occult factions and battle one another for control of strategic locations throughout the world, including Egypt, New York, and Seoul.