Hyenas' closed beta will launch this month, might change business model

rockpapershotgun.com:

Creative Assembly's scifi heist 'em up Hyenas received a new trailer yesterday, showing its teams of three doing battle in zero-G. It also got dates for a new closed beta due to begin on August 31st.

The bigger news is that its business model is seemingly up in the air. Publishers Sega had previously said it would not be free-to-play, but are now "making final adjustments to its business model" and will use the closed beta to finalise plans for launch.

Here's the trailer, which looks fine:

Hyenas was discussed during a Sega investor call, the transcript of which is now available online, during which Hyenas was referred to as a "challenging title" and referenced "final adjustments" being made to its business model at the same time as "striving to improve" its quality.

"We have dedicated the past year to reviewing our business model alongside months of extremely valuable player testing of the gameplay experience," a Sega spokeperson told Eurogamer earlier today. "We're very excited with this progress and the reaction to yesterday's gameplay reveal. We'll build on that foundation with our Closed Beta test beginning 31st August and use this insight to finalise our plans for launch."

Hyenas will be played at Gamescom later this month, from August 23rd until August 27th. The closed beta will then launch on August 31st and run until September 11th. The beta will include eight specialists from Hyenas' hero roster, and you can request access now via Steam.

Ed was unconvinced by Hyenas when he saw it at last year's Gamescom, but a lot can change in 12 months. My personal pick for which new live service heist 'em up with an obnoxious tone should find success is The Finals.