Phoenix Labs announced today that its cooperative PC game Dauntless has attracted over 1 million players during to its open beta. The testing for the action role-playing game began on May 24.
Dauntless is similar to Capcom’s Monster Hunter series, with players coming together to battle giant creatures. Monster Hunter is popular, especially with this year’s Monster Hunter: World, but it does not have much direct competition. Monster Hunter: World has sold about 8 million copies on PlayStation 4, but it is not out on PC until later this year. That gives Dauntless a window to attract that PC audience.
And unlike Monster Hunter: World, Dauntless is free-to-play. It makes money by selling a premium currency, Platinum, that players can use to buy cosmetic items like costume dyes and emotes.
Open betas are important for testing, checking for bugs and making sure that online servers work. But these open betas, which anyone can play, also act as a kind of demo. People can try a game and spread buzz ahead of an official release.
Phoenix Labs is planning to have Dauntless launch later this year.