Call of Duty: Vanguard Champion Hill alpha and multiplayer beta announced

It’s been one of the most exciting weeks in recent memory for Call of Duty. The new 2021 game, Call of Duty: Vanguard, was revealed late last week with a reveal trailer and other details. Following it was CDL Champs, which is also where another reveal for Vanguard was showcased. During the broadcast of the grand finals, Activision revealed the open alpha and beta dates for Vanguard. The alpha begins Friday for PlayStation players only and the beta starts Sept. 10 for PlayStation players, Sept. 16 for Xbox and PC players and Sept. 18 for all other platforms.

The alpha only features the Champion Hill game mode. This is a brand new mode in Vanguard, which the creative director for Sledgehammer Games described as “Gunfight on steroids.” Following the open alpha will be the multiplayer reveal and open beta for the mode as well.

Call of Duty: Vanguard open alpha details

Coming this weekend, from Friday through Sunday, is the open alpha for Vanguard, featuring Champion Hill. Sledgehammer Games describe the mode as a mixture of a plethora of well-known Call of Duty game modes. Eight teams start the match, which takes place on four different maps. From here, the teams eliminate each other by lowering their live counts. Once a team has no remaining lives, they’re eliminated. This is followed by that team’s loot falling to the ground, like in Warzone.

After the third match in the series, teams can turn the currency they gained for better weapons, killstreaks, equipment, etc. This culminates with the final two teams fighting it out with the loot they’ve accrued to be the last one standing. The trailer for Champion Hill showcases some of these mechanics.

Welcome to Champion Hill.
8️⃣ Teams
4️⃣ Arenas
1️⃣ Winner

Clear your plans for the free #Vanguard Alpha coming to PlayStation this weekend 🙌

Preload ➡️ 8/23 @ 3am PT
Live ➡️ 8/27 @ 10am PT pic.twitter.com/7UpQK60VJJ

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) August 22, 2021

This mode will take up the entirety of the open alpha, as Gunfight did in the Modern Warfare alpha. It’s only accessible to PlayStation 4 and 5 players but it’s also free. Players can pre-load the alpha starting on Monday.

Call of Duty: Vanguard open beta details

Around a week after the open alpha concludes, the multiplayer reveal for Vanguard starts. Fans can tune into a live stream on Sept. 7, time and location are yet to be announced, for all details revolving Vanguard multiplayer. Sledgehammer Games will sit down with developers to talk about the mode and dive into why certain decisions were made with the game. Also, some gameplay should also be showcased.

After the reveal, the open beta is next on the agenda, starting on September 10 for PlayStation players only. Starting on September 16, the beta is open to all platforms. However, to play during these times, players need to pre-order any edition of Vanguard. For fans that can’t pre-order, the weekend of September 18-20 is free for all players and platforms.

During the beta, fans can experience Vanguard multiplayer in a slimmed-down version. The entirety of the game won’t be open but for a handful of maps, weapons game modes but other aspects will. This includes the loadout system, which will allow players to equip weapons with up to 10 attachments in the Gunsmith.

Call of Duty: Vanguard will release on Nov. 5, which means the developers have plenty of time to make necessary changes following the open beta.