Battlefield 1’s open beta starts August 31

Online shooter fans will soon get their first taste of World War I.

Publisher Electronic Arts and developer Dice announced today that Battlefield 1 will start its open beta test on August 31 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The online shooter is one of Electronic Art’s biggest releases for the holiday season, which is when game sales are at a yearly high thanks to gift-giving. The full game comes out on October 21. Such betas are meant to help developers find bugs and problems with a game before launch. However, they also serve as a way to let players try a title and (hopefully) begin to spread positive buzz, resulting in increased sales for the final release.