Company of Heroes 2 Beta Release Date Arrives, Players Can Retain Progress at June 25 Launch

Company of Heroes 2, the sequel to the classic RTS strategy game, has debuted an open beta today, which will be available now through June 18, a week before the game is expected to have a full release. Developer Relic Entertainment announced this news today to Gamespot.

The open beta will allow players to explore many different aspects of Company of Heroes 2. The game's multiplayer mode will be available, allowing users to try out both the game's competitive and cooperative multiplayer mode on six of the games maps. In addition, the beta will allow players to test out the game's progression and bulletin system, up to level 45. Players will also be able to retain any progression and unlockables they obtain in the beta, so long as they purchase the full game with the Stream account they used for the beta within 60 days of the game's launch. Greg Wilson, a producer for the game, spoke highly of the game's beta process and how it has helped polish Company of Heroes 2:

"We have been working hard since the closed beta balancing and improving all areas of the game as well as adding new matchmaking servers...COH2 has had one of the most successful beta programs we've ever run at Relic and the support of the fans has been a critical factor in making the game more balanced and stable for launch."

Company of Heroes will launch June 26 for the PC. The game has had a rough road to launch, as it one of the games affected by original publisher THQ going bankrupt. Fortunately, both the rights of the game and Relic Entertainment were purchased by Sega for the princely sum of $26.6 million during the THQ bankruptcy auction. Company of Heroes 2 is expected to be one of the best strategy games of the year, and figures to make good on the millions Sega paid for the franchise and developer.