The first Honkai: Star Rail closed beta will start Wednesday, October 27 on iOS and PC.
MiHoYo announced the start date for the upcoming strategy RPG's first beta this week, after opening sign-ups earlier this month. The end date for this closed beta hasn't been announced, possibly because its duration will be evaluated based on how quickly participants progress.
Like Genshin Impact, the studio's most recent game, Honkai: Star Rail will wipe progress at the end of each closed beta, so players who can't participate don't have to worry about falling behind.
Genshin Impact ran three closed betas before its global release, so it's safe to assume that Honkai: Star Rail – which has already specified that this is merely its first closed beta – will see a few additional testing periods as well. The first Genshin Impact closed beta began more than a year before the game's official launch, so it's possible we won't see Honkai: Star Rail in the wild until late 2022 or even early 2023, but that's just an estimate.
The sign-up period for the first Honkai: Star Rail closed beta ended on October 14, just under a week after it began. We can reasonably expect sign-ups for round two to open sometime in the next few months assuming MiHoYo follows a similar schedule to Genshin Impact, which spaced its betas out by around three months. Sign-ups will also seemingly precede the betas themselves by just a few weeks. Note that if you didn't make it into this beta, you will seemingly need to sign up again when closed beta two is announced.
Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based strategy RPG, breaking from the action traditions established by Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact. It's currently unclear if its world is as open as Genshin Impact's or if it's more level-based, like Honkai Impact. It's got MiHoYo's fingerprints all over it, though, which means the characters are mighty charming.
Honkai Impact 3rd is coming to Steam – as early as this month according to its newly minted store page.
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