The official release of Monster Hunter Wilds is months away, but the hit franchise’s first mainline sequel built from the ground up for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S will be available to try for free near the end of October in its first open beta test.

The Monster Hunter Wilds beta will take place in two stages, with the first being an exclusive PlayStation Plus Early Access Play period for PS5, followed by a full open beta period for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC players via Steam. The dates and times for this are as follows:

The Monster Hunter Wilds open beta will let players try out the game ahead of its release next year. There's a variety of missions to take on, from a small slice of a story mission to repeatable monster hunts.