How to Play the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha

During the PlayStation 5 Showcase event yesterday, Treyarch came along to show off its cross-gen shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War running on PS5 hardware. And confirming the game will be present for the new console’s launch on November 12, 2020. But that wasn’t all. Treyarch also had a little treat for PS4 owners, noting that the PlayStation community will get exclusive access to a Multiplayer Alpha test.

How to Play the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha

All you need to do to gain access to the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha is to own a PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Plus subscription. In fact, as of September 17 (today!) you can start preloading the Alpha to have it ready for when it goes live. And when does it go live, you ask? Tomorrow! The Alpha will run from Friday, September 18 to the following Monday, giving PlayStation players a whole week of early access to Black Ops Cold War, without even committing to a digital pre-order.

Related: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: Beta Dates and Access Guide

Here are the relevant times for the Black Ops Cold War Alpha, by timezone and everything:

Pre-load (September 17)

• 8:00 AM PDT
• 10:00 AM CDT
• 11:00 AM EDT
• 4:00 PM BST (UK)
• 5:00 PM CEST (EU)
• 1:00 AM AEST (Australia – Sept 18)

Open Alpha (September 18-20: starts and ends at these times)

• 10:00 AM PDT
• 12:00 PM CDT
• 1:00 PM EDT
• 6:00 PM BST
• 7:00 PM CEST
• 3:00 AM AEST (Sept 19-21)

There you have it! PlayStation fans are getting a little extra treat, no doubt because Sony threw a big, cartoony, DuckTales-ass bag of dollars at Activision. But hey, if you’re on PS4 you get to benefit. Of course, PS4 folks who digitally pre-order the game will also get early access to the Open Beta period, which starts on October 8, 2020.

The Alpha will contain three different game modes. Those are the normal Team Deathmatch, Domination and even the brand new for Black Ops Cold War mode Combined Arms. Each mode will have a couple maps available, but don’t expect a ton of options.

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Unfortunately, if you aren’t a PlayStation player you won’t be able to get your hands on the game until October 15 at the earliest.  Hang in there! Call of Duty is no stranger to console-exclusive timed brand deals, and this is just another one of those.

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