The much anticipated Hybrid beta launch is today and 5th Cell has informed everybody about the beta details that seemed to be under wraps until now. The retail release will see a date sometime in summer 2012. No official date has been determined. If you missed it, we are giving away three beta keys ourselves to some lucky winners.

• The beta will begin Thursday, April 27th at 11:00 AM PDT.
• There will be 3 maps and 3 modes in the beta. In the retail version, there are 10 maps and 7 modes.
• The level cap is 50, but surpassing level 25 is “highly unlikely” within the beta.
• There are a lot of weapons to unlock, but it’s possible to see them all if you play enough.
• The territory metagame pitting Paladin versus Variant will be live in the game. Players will be forced to pick a faction and will not be able to change in beta. Players of opposite factions cannot be played with on the same team, even if they’re on your friends list. In the full version there are ways to change your faction, so we’re told.
• Nothing will be added to the beta after it goes live. It will be two and a half weeks long.
• Players are heavily encouraged to report bugs and impressions to the official Hybrid Forums.

Also, the beta is US-only, unfortunately. By changing your account’s region to USA you should be able to circumvent this, however. With the beta running two and a half weeks, that puts the end date somewhere in the middle of May. Don’t forget to check out the brand new beta trailer for Hybrid and be sure to leave a comment in the section below with your opinions on this next XBLA giant.

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