Competitive team PvE game Evercore Heroes hits paid closed beta today [Updated]

We don’t often receive press releases for a game that declares itself “completely unique competitive PvE experience that’s not a MOBA or an MMO” or even a “loot grind,” but Evercore Heroes has delivered exactly that today in the service of launching its closed beta – and hoping you’ll sign up, of course.

“Each EVERCORE Heroes match is a pulsating competitive PvE session between four teams of four mighty heroes aiming to prove themselves to be the world’s best team of heroes. To win, players must power up their heroes, charge powerful magical artifacts called Evercores, survive onslaughts of dangerous enemies, and triumph in the final challenge. Players will have to work together to outplay other teams in critical moments during the match, with four teams being whittled down to three, then two for the head-to-head finale. Ultimately, the best teams will find the right composition and strategy, balancing tradeoffs between building their own power and making the battle more difficult for rival teams.”

Dublin, Ireland-based studio Vela Games – which is reportedly made up of vets from Riot, Blizzard, Epic, and EA – says the beta “includes three unique stages, each with [its] own sets of items, enemies and head-to-head finale encounters, as well as sixteen playable heroes, with more set to be released in the coming weeks.”

The PC closed beta begins today, and the only way in right now is buying a $19.99-and-up founder’s pack (or snagging a friend key from someone who does). The game will be F2P (with a cosmetic and progress-oriented, not P2W, cash shop) at launch, however.

“As it’s still a Beta, we are not yet ready to launch the game to the whole wide world,” Vela says on its official site. “We have therefore decided to first open up the doors for those that want to support and grow with us before opening up the game to the rest of the world. Once the game reaches Open Beta at a later time it will be free to play for everybody!”