Call of Duty: Vanguard alpha coming this weekend, beta dates set

Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s first ever public demo is taking place this weekend. As we’ve come to expect from recent Call of Duty games, this test will be exclusive to PlayStation consoles, and will run for a limited time.

The Vanguard Champion Hill alpha will be available August 27-29, kicking off at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK. As the name suggests, this alpha will focus entirely on the new Champion Hill mode, an evolution of Gunfight mode introduced in 2019’s Modern Warfare.

Champion Hill can be played in 2v2 and 3v3 configurations. It’s essentially multiple Gunfight games going on at once, where different squads fight each other across four parts of a big map. The goal is to deplete the other team’s lives. In between combat rounds, players will be able to use points accrued to buy perks, equipment and killstreaks.

Alongside the mode itself, a selection of weapons and attachments will be available during the test. You’ll also be able to play as one of the game’s four main characters.

Activision also announced that the Vanguard multiplayer reveal will take place on Tuesday, September 7, with the first beta kicking off that weekend.

Vanguard will follow the same multi-tiered beta weekend schedule used with the last two games. In that, the first weekend – September 10-13 – will be exclusive to PlayStation players who pre-ordered the game. The weekend after that – September 17-20 – will go open on PlayStation. This is also when the pre-order beta for PC and Xbox begins, before the full open beta kicks off on September 18.

Activision Blizzard is being accused by the State of California of widespread discrimination, abuse and fostering a “frat boy culture”. Much of the complaint centres on Blizzard, and it has so far gotten president J. Allen Brack ousted, alongside the studio’s longtime HR head Jesse Meschuk.

Many, however, do not believe Activision Blizzard has gone far enough to address the core problem. Staff across the company’s various units have formed a coalition that called out CEO’s decision to bring in a union-busting law firm to investigate, among other things.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is out November 5 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.