The Mechwarrior franchise was once one of the biggest in PC gaming but for the past few years the "50 foot tall mech" series has been idle. A couple of years ago, Piranha Games announced plans to revive the Mechwarrior series and in 2011 expanded that notion to reveal plans to release Mechwarrior Online, a free-to-play online game.
This week, Piranha Games and its partner Infinite Game Publishing announced that the closed beta test for Mechwarrior Online has started. At the moment, the beta is limited to North American residents.
In addition, the company announced a way for players to get early access to some content in the game with a little extra money. Starting on June 19th, two pre-launch packages will go on sale. The $60 Elite Founders Package will include a custom "Founder"s BattleMech", along with $80 worth of in-game currency, access to the game"s premium services for two months and more.
You can also get the cheaper $30 Veteran Founder"s Packages which gets the player $40 worth of in-game currency, one month"s worth of access to the game"s premium services and more. Both the Elite and Veteran packages will also allow players early access to Mechwarrior Online"s official launch starting on July 17th.
Image via Piranha Games