KartRider: Drift, an upcoming kart racer title developed and published by Nexon, will be getting an open beta so everyone can try it out (presumedly the microtransactions too) ahead of its full launch (which will be basically the same as the beta).
With an interim pre-registration period and three previous closed betas underneath their belt, what’s so exciting about this upcoming release?
The big one is that KartRider: Drift will now support mobile play – yep, the game will be taking on that Mario Kart game that keeps doing the numbers on iOS and Android as part of the Global Race Test family!
Nexon has opted for an open beta this time, which, in combination with the size of the platforms being tested on, suggests that this will be one very big stress test.
If you’re interested in participating in the open beta, there are a few things you might need to know before proceeding. First of all, you can sign up to the pre-register and get access to an exclusive character and a platform-specific themed kart, with more information found here.
The listed available platforms for the beta are as follows: Nexon Launcher and Steam for PC, iOS, Android, PS4, and Xbox One. The only main caveat here being that there will be a player cap of 10,000 on iOS users on a first come, first serve basis (so not quite as “open beta” as all that).
The Test will begin at 6:00 PM Wednesday, August 31 (PDT) and continue on until 6:00 AM Tuesday, September 6. As for the full game, an official full release date hasn’t yet been given, but you can expect it to be sometime this year.
Why are you supporting a free to play, microtransactions driven, kart racer exactly?
This is the second article you’ve asked something like this on. Again: We’re not supporting these games. We’re covering them, as a small part of an expanding effort to build a news desk function on the site. That’s not exactly going out there giving the things 5/5 star, 2,000-word reviews and GOTY awards.
Whether we like it or not (in this case, not), these kinds of games are popular and people do want to know about betas and whatever. Flat news coverage of such is appropriate. We’re not dedicating resources to covering them beyond that.