MAG is Gold, Beta for Everyone Soon

263 15

On behalf of everyone at Zipper Interactive, I’m proud to announce that following our successful series of beta programs this past fall, our 256-player first-person shooting spectacular, MAG, has gone gold in North America, Japan, Korea, and the rest of Asia. It is now headed off to manufacturing so that the game can make it from store shelves to PlayStation 3s all over the world. Expect MAG to drop on January 26 in North America and Asia, January 28 in Japan, and January 29 in Korea.

MAG Packfront Final!

The European discs are finishing up final quality assurance rounds right now and we expect to see those editions go gold sometime in the next few weeks.

We realize that the wait is still more than a month away, which is why we’re also pleased to announce a cool little surprise (or should I say, a “great, big surprise?”) to tide you over. In an effort to give you a taste of what to expect with the final version of MAG, Zipper and Sony Computer Entertainment will team up on January 4 to bring you our final and 100% open PSN beta.

But what’s so great about MAG Beta 5? Well, to start, it will take place worldwide — so if you’re in a territory with a PlayStation 3 and an Internet connection, you qualify to be a part of it. What’s more is that you won’t need any special permissions or code keys to participate, you’ll just get it and go! Complete access to the game’s 64-player sabotage and 256-player Domination modes are pretty good reasons to get excited too.

Of course, the best news about MAG Beta 5 is that you’ll be able to download the client in North America starting tomorrow, December 22! Additionally, PS3 owners in Asia can start downloading the file on December 25, while the European store will make it available on January 4. Check back for details on Japanese PSN store access in the near future.

Now that you know where to get the MAG Beta, your path to playing it is a simple three-step process:

  1. Log on to the PlayStation Store (tomorrow) and download the MAG Beta file like you would any other freely-available PSN video or demo (298 MB)
  2. Launch the MAG Beta program from your XMB to download a special patch that will restart MAG once the update has been received (another 38 MB)
  3. After the reboot, the beta will reconnect and download the actual game data so that you can play (1.8 GB – 2.3 GB depending on your region)

Complete the steps above and you’ll be ready to rock ‘n roll — and shoot things and blow stuff up — until the beta ends on January 10 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. Keep in mind, though, that you won’t actually be able to play the MAG beta directly until the servers go live at 5 am Pacific on January 4. But hey, look at the bright side: this is the last time you’ll ever have to download a MAG file this big (since the data will already be on the retail disc when it ships next month), and you’ll save a whole lot of extra shooting time by downloading what you need early on; thus allowing you to jump into the action immediately on the 4th.

Oh, and one last thing before I go: I know I speak for everyone here at Zipper Interactive when I say that each and every one of us wishes you and yours a happy and safe holiday season. Thank you very much for supporting our community and our game in 2009, and we look forward to giving you exactly what you’ve been waiting for in 2010!

MAG screenshot new

Comments are closed.

263 Comments

15 Author Replies

  • the beta is going to be in playstation store???
    AWESOME THX ZIPPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • MAG BETA!! YAY!!! Now if only i had the money to get the full game… :(

  • So let me get this straight. You can download it tomorrow but you can’t play it until January 4th? Is that what you mean to say or am I reading this wrong?

  • can’t wait to start playing .i want to play it now i love the last beta. LONG LIVE RAVEN

  • That is some awesome news that everyone will be able to try out the game before its release. Congrats on going gold Zipper! I look forward to checking it out myself.

    @34 – rawstory
    Wow, you are funny with your “demands”. You are upset with the FREE beta for MAG that is available to EVERYONE because you got screwed out of the R2 beta? Gee, hold onto grudges much?

    @39 – psuniversal
    I think you are getting a little carried away with rumors. Why don’t you wait for an official word from Sony before you start hyperventilating over a survey.

  • @ WuStank81 WTF, Thank U for the responce and U really want me to go out and buy it hugh!! I probly have a PS1 that is your age. :)

  • Any word on the European release date? Can’t wait to get into the beta when i get back home from the States.

  • Whooooohoooooo!!!

  • [[[“Multiplayer Online Only”

    A phrase you won’t find on any other console.]]]

    …except Xbox 360.

  • I think this is my 5th mag beta download lol.

  • That one heck of a download

  • You should probably have made this be a simple singular download before doing this stunt. D:

  • This game is going to rock the FPS shooter world on the PS3! I can’t wait for it to hit my PS3 slim! MAG will rock! I was in the closed Beta and it was more fun then I ever had in a long time, great squad system, and graphics as good if not a bit better then Resistance 2! Plus it was sporting 256 players!

    I hope we get a more advanced build and we see the FPS rates stay up this time around!

  • Thank you so much! I should be placing a pre-order or if not certainly buying it when it releases. Looking forward to getting a bit more serious testing time in as I (and many others) will be on school break now. Whoo hoo!

    Also, if at least part of the reason you’re doing this is because some of us asked… thanks so much for hearing our desperate cries! :o) It sure is a great Christmas present! Kudos!

  • Well I have been hating every moment of MW2, I only got the game because of all the pressure from my friends, good to know something will be coming out soon enough to get the highest value from trading that thing in, though still a loss of money. Glad to see the release date stuck, I hope to find many of the bugs from the beta fixed, though either way, it has to be better than MW2 :P

  • who cares. we only like u because of socom. give us socom back…

  • Well, I’ll be honest, I held off on MW2 because I wanted to see what MAG and Battlefield BC2 had to offer. Here’s my first chance.

  • Awesome! I’ve been wanting to play MAG. I appreciate you guys making Beta 5 accessible to everyone.

  • is this a fps? I always thought it was a 3ps.

  • SOLD, I’ve played the Betas you don’t have to convince me!!! :D

  • SWEEEEEET!!! Thanks Zipper :D

  • Does the game have bots?

  • Download it AGAIN!!??!!
    ;-)
    It’s so addictive I just can’t say no…

  • when will this beta end?

  • ZIPPER YOU GUYS ROCK. can’t wait to get my MAG Fix again, a couple of my friends and me are dying to get the final product. The beta was like crack for us. xD

    SVER FOR LIFE

  • Valor will rise from the fallen ashes to exterminate all who oppose!!!

  • The Beta is a lot of fun, it all seems to run very well. Once you start playing it is hard to put the controller down.

    Looking forward to the final release.

  • 67 Spunnups – You won’t be disappointed in BC2. It is legit. I enjoyed the one MAG beta I got into, but it didn’t hold me like MW2 or BC2 Beta. Here is to hoping this six-day open beta WILL draw me in.

    And I agree we need a tutorial so its easier to mix new players in with veterans. I can see veterans getting really mad at a rookie because they don’t know where to go on the map or how to fit in with the team/squad they are with.

    I hope it isn’t TOO ambitious with the design, but I do like the effort!

  • on a side note though.. when you are done please sit down with sony and help them with the socom direction..

    you have a fw things going against the zipper.

    even if it was slant 6 who made confrontation, it was you who stopped supporting it to make MAG. in between so many titles and so many shooters out and coming out.. i’m not sure it will be the sales giant it could have been had a different date been selected or if you had just built on the socom franchise instead.

    i’m still confused at how easily, slant 6, sony and zipper undervalued the Socom franchise..

    can zipper at least work on a remake of the original socoms like the god of war collection?

  • I like MAG alot, I really do but when’s Socom 4 United Front Coming out? How about an early Christmas present for me?….

  • yes yes yes yes MAG unleashed more game play im on it soon as tommorow all night waiting for it till download & install will my rank from last beta be the same still LvL 26 i was two months ago

  • How much is this game going to cost? I keep seeing $59.99, but I thought Sony charges $40 for online-only games?

  • not really sold on this game yet.. i’ll try the beta and wait for the reveiws

  • Can’t wait to enter the BEta tomorrow!

  • been playing this since phase one – i’ve always said i’m not a big fan of shooters but MAG changed that! it’ll be THE one shooter game i will play a lot! RAVENS RULE! the cover art IS amazing – RAVENS REPRESENTING! snipe ya later!

  • does the game support split screen of offline multiplayer

  • i liked this game at first but after a while dident.for 1 ever time ou guy had the update where we had o redownload every thing used up most of my inthernet Gb useage, and the game is just way to repetative way beyond any game should.i do have t give it to zipper though for making it 256 online

  • Cool when does Socom come out?

  • Awesome.
    Definetly waiting for European Beta.

  • awesome! glad you guys are doing this! Naughty dog did it with U2 and it was great, glad you guys are doing this as well!
    my ps3 just ylod on thursday, i hope i can get it fixed or a new one soon…..it sucks without it :(

  • I was able to play the last beta days before it ended. Thankfully (?) I didn’t come across any problems to report given the limited time I had. I am looking forward to this final beta. I love the idea of playing with, or against, the world. I doubt I will find any errors, but I will report them should I come across them.

    Thanks for this final opportunity to test the game before it goes “live”. Looking forward to the real thing on January 26th. Lock and load!

  • Been on a MAG media blackout. What game modes is in this? Is there straight up TDM?

  • will updates take forever like other versions of the beta?

  • it is going to be torture to have MAG sitting there on my system for like 2 weeks and I can’t play it

    buying MAG day one since I don’t pre-order

  • awesome! was in the first sony beta and it was awesome. another GREAT Zipper Interactive game. I will be getting this on day one. I cant believe how massive and in depth the game was when i was playing. the whole game has to be better. cant wait!

    thanks all devs and publishers involved.

  • Is there 3rd person mode?

  • Cool :) can’t wait to play this

  • WEll im happy that a demo/beta is coming to test this out since me and my uncle is curious about this game. Also JD i was wondering me being an IGN fan will you go by there like on scoop or beyond to talk about the game or just to say hi and catch up with the ign listeners? I miss you on IGN.

    • If they\’d invite me back to Beyond or Scoop, I\’d be happy to. But it\’s their show now, so it\’s all up to them!

  • Nice! Is the download necessary for people who participated in the last beta?

Please enter your date of birth.

Date of birth fields