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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Game Gets Open Beta in N. America This Month

Arc System Works announced on Wednesday that an open beta test for the BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle crossover fighting game will launch for PlayStation 4 on May 9. The beta test will run simultaneously in North America and Japan.

People who pre-order the game digitally through the PlayStation Store will have access to the open beta until May 12. An open beta for all users will then run from May 12-14. The open beta will include the following 20 characters:

BlazBlue

• Ragna
• Jin
• Noel
• Makoto
• Rachel
• Hazama
• Azrael
• Iron Tager
• No 13
• Es

Persona 4 Arena

• Yu
• Yosuke
• Chie
• Yukiko

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late

• HYDE
• Linne
• Waldstein
• Gordeau

RWBY

• Ruby
• Weiss

Open beta players will be able to access four modes: Casual Lobby, Tactics Mode (Tutorial & Practice Only), and VS Mode against the CPU or a second player (available only for PlayStation Store pre-orders). An offline demo with the same modes will also launch for PS4 on May 14. The demo will be available to everyone with one playable character from each game, but people who pre-order the new game will be able to play the demo with all 20 characters listed above.

The PlayStation 4 and Switch game will ship in Japan and Asia on May 31. PQube will release the game in Europe this summer for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Arc System Works America will release the game with an English dub in North America as its first title on June 5. The game will cost US$49.99, and will also be available in a Deluxe Digital Edition that includes the main game and all six DLC character packs for US$69.99. Individual character packs with three characters each (for a total of six character packs) will be available for US$4.99 each, and all character packs together as a separate purchase will be available for US$19.99. The first character pack with Platinum the Trinity, Orie, and Kanji Tatsumi will be available for free for the first two weeks after launch.

Arc System Works America will also offer a Collector's Edition for the game in North America. The edition will include a special box, soundtrack CD, 52-page art book, and four acrylic character standees. The company has yet to reveal the price for the Collector's Edition, but the pre-order period will begin on May 4.

The base game will feature 20 characters, and 20 more characters will be available via DLC. The additional characters will be available in several DLC releases.

Starting playable characters include:

• Rachel Alucard, Hazama, Noel Vermillion, Azrael, Iron Tager, Makoto Nanaya, ν-No.13-, and Es (BlazBlue CentralFiction)
• Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi (BlazBlue)
• Yū Narukami, Yōsuke Hanamura, Chie Satōnaka, and Yukiko Amagi (Persona 4 Arena)
• HYDE, Linne, Waldstein, and Gordeau (Under Night In-Birth)
• Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose (RWBY)

Confirmed DLC characters for the game include: Platinum the Trinity from BlazBlue CentralFiction, Orie from Under Night In-Birth, Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4 Arena, Blake Belladonna from RWBY, Yang Xiao Long from RWBY, Aegis from Persona 4 Arena, Carmine from Under Night In-Birth, and Jubei from BlazBlue CentralFiction.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is a crossover between Arc System Works' BlazBlue and Persona 4 Arena fighting games, French Bread's Under Night In-Birth game, and Rooster Teeth's RWBY franchise. The title is a two-versus-two game.

[Via Siliconera]