A closed Blood Bowl 3 beta will be available in early 2021 for players who pre-order

Rival players eye each other up
(Image credit: Nacon)

Blood Bowl 3 will run a closed beta before it launches in early 2021. 

The beta will be available to players who pre-order the new game ahead of its release next year. A press statement from the development team also says access "will be possible in several ways", although what those other ways will be remains to be seen – for now, the press release simply states details "will be revealed later along with more details on the dates and game content". 

Best described as sporting XCOM, Blood Bowl casts you as the coach overlooking a match of American football-inspired violence. The goal is to score as many touchdowns as possible, but if you can kill a star player along the way, that won’t hurt your chances of winning. 

"Funnier, bloodier and more spectacular than ever, Blood Bowl 3 will be a hit with fans of the universe and strategy games alike," a press release says. "At launch, the game will include 12 teams with their own pitch and cheerleaders, Campaign and Multiplayer modes, and more customisation options than a Blood Bowl game has ever received before."

Parisian studio Cyanide has been responsible for all of Blood Bowl’s digital adaptations to date, though it’s found a new publisher this time in Nacon, formerly known as Bigben Interactive.

Blood Bowl 3 will come to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC via Steam, and Nintendo Switch in early 2021. The precise release date has yet to be confirmed.

For what to play right here and now, here are the best games of 2020 so far.

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, 12DOVE

Vikki Blake is 12DOVE's Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.