How to get into the Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest

Sony and Guerrilla Games are hosting a second Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest to help get feedback on how to make the multiplayer game better while it's still under development. It features several new additions, including two fresh characters and a new region, among other things. Like the first playtest, this one is closed, so not everyone who's interested will get to take part.

Below, we explain how to get into the Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest and what to expect from it.

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How to get into the Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest

The second Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest is a closed one, like its predecessor. Sony and Guerrilla Games are hosting what they call sign-ups via the PlayStation Beta Program, though "sign-up" isn't the most accurate description. You're essentially just registering interest, and there's a random chance the program may select you for participation.

The PlayStation Beta program usually filters participants by the interests they provided when they signed up for the program. However, in the PlayStation Blog post announcing this second playtest, Guerrilla Games included this link that automatically flags you as interested in Hunters Gathering, so if you didn't pick multiplayer or PvE or whatever during the sign-up process, it won't matter for this.

If you haven't signed up for the PlayStation Beta Program already, clicking the above link will take you to the program's home page. You'll need to sign up from there, then click the link again to register interest in Horizon Hunters Gathering.

Guerrilla is hosting the test on PS5 and Steam, though it didn't provide the required PC specs for the Steam version.

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When is the second Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest?

Guerrilla is hosting the second playtest over four days.

• Start date: Friday, May 22
• End date: Monday, May 25

The studio didn't provide any specific start or end times, however.

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What's new in the second Horizon Hunters Gathering playtest?

Quite a lot. Guerrilla added two new playable characters:

• Ensa, an Oseram smuggler
• Shadow, a Carja "covert operative" who also has a pet Stalker machine

Rem, Sun, and Axle from the first playtest are back as well, with unnamed improvements to how they function based on player feedback. There's also a playable story mission, which Guerrilla says will function in the final game as way to unlock new characters and skills, a new jungle-slash-desert region called Breaker's Bounty, training modules to help teach you how the game works, and new difficulty options for the test's other two playable modes.

The first mode is Machine Incursion, a fairly traditional horde mode that sees your squad of three hunters facing down waves of machines before taking on a boss. Then there's Cauldron Descent, which is kind of the same thing, but with more stages to clear before you reach the final boss.

Guerrilla said this playtest will include NPC hunter allies to help those who want to play Machine Incursion or the story episode. They will only be Rem, Sun, or Axle, though — not either of the new characters.