European MMORPG gamers – and really any gamer looking for a fresh start – will find the doors of Albion Online’s new European server thrown wide open today as the open beta has begun.
Unlike previous phases of this extremely delineated test process, the open beta is quite literally open and does not require purchase of a founder pack. “The Albion Europe Open Beta is now here! Until April 23, players can earn the new Duelist vanity set, play on a condensed version of Albion with massively buffed progress, and experience the new server before it officially launches – and it’s completely free to join,” the studio says.
April 23rd, we note, is the end of the beta; the first leg (there are three) of early access for founders begins April 24th, leading into the official launch on April 29th. There’s no real rush to leap in at beta as it’ll all be wiped before early access anyway, unless you really want to go for the rewards, which do carry over.
If you’re wondering about ping: NA players on Reddit have suggested that the ping to the EU beta server is only about 50ms more than to the US server, meaning not only that it’d be pretty trivial for a NA player to play there but also that EU players might not feel the need to leave the NA servers. However, some EU and South African players are seeing significant ping improvements on the new server, so you’re probably going to want to test that for yourself.
