Halo Wars 2's free Blitz Multiplayer Beta is open to Windows 10 users and Xbox Live Gold members

Halo Wars 2 is a real-time strategy game set in the Halo universe, and it comes out just a little over a month from now. It brings back plenty of the flair and art direction from Bungie’s original Halo trilogy, flawlessly mixing it in with 343 Industries’ own take on the franchise. It first had a beta last June, but a lot has changed since then. The biggest change is that the Blitz game mode was unveiled, providing a very different take on the RTS genre. It mixes building decks of cards with commanding troops in real time, and it’s an interesting hybrid.

Of course, letting people play your new creation’s the best way to help them understand that, and the teams at both 343 Industries and Creative Assembly know that very well. They announced another beta last week, and it released today. Running from now until the 30th of January, the Blitz Multiplayer Beta does exactly what the name implies: it lets you play Blitz. You can check out its trailer below.

This beta is completely free to everyone on both Windows 10 and the Xbox One, but you will need Xbox Live Gold to play it on the Xbox One since there’s no singleplayer component. Regular Blitz mode will be fairly similar in the final game, although a singleplayer variant called Blitz Firefight will be included at launch.

You can get the Halo Wars 2 Blitz Multiplayer Beta on your Windows 10 PC here, or on your Xbox One here.

Will you be playing Halo Wars 2’s Blitz Multiplayer Beta? Which platform(s) will you play it on? Let us know in the comments below!