During our PAX East 2013 interview, Jack Emmert let us in on a secret. That Neverwinter, the company’s action-oriented MMORPG set in the Dungeon & Dragons universe, would be heading to open beta very soon. Unlike some other developers out there it appears that Cryptic Studios wasn’t leading on gamers. Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment announced early today that Neverwinter will move to its open beta testing phase on April 30.
But before gamers get full access with no fear of wipes, there’s one final hooray for those early adopters and lucky beta key winners. Next Friday, April 12 until Sunday, April 14 eligible players will receive 60 hours to hone their experience farming routine. Of most interest to some will be another topic discussed during the interview, a first crack at Neverwinter’s Profession system. Be it Leadership, Leatherworking, Mailsmithing or Platesmithing, all four profession will be available to those interested.
“We’ve never been in a better place launching a game,” said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios. “While the entire team is focused on launching Neverwinter’s Open Beta on April 30, we still wanted to thank those committed Founders who stuck with us. Since the beginning of Neverwinter’s Beta Weekends, our Founders have shown us that Neverwinter offers engaging game mechanics, unique features and a gameplay experience that is parallel to subscription or paid games. They have become our biggest supporters and we wanted to give them Beta Weekend 4 as a token of our appreciation.”
After the jump is the latest trailer, What is Neverwinter, and a collection of new screenshots. Time is running out to become a Founder and acquire guaranteed beta access and exclusive items.
Yes, I got the e-mail today about the final beta weekend coming up this weekend. I mostly enjoyed my time with NW on the two beta weekends I did, especially the fun combat system, and I like what I’m reading about the changes Cryptic is implementing this weekend. I think I’m going to hold off playing again until official launch though, as I don’t want to burn myself out on NW in its unfinished beta state. One minor disappointment is that I don’t think the NW avatars and clothes are nearly as good looking as Guild Wars 2 (or for that matter Cryptic’s own STO), but hopefully these will improve on launch.