As civilization prepares for an impending ice age, a twisted new project emerges, half science experiment and half live-entertainment. It's called Darwin Project and it challenges participants to survive the cold and fight to the death in a treacherous, snow-covered arena.

Darwin Project takes the battle royale genre up north to the Canadian Rockies. Set against a post-apocalyptic backdrop, an impending ice age has kick-started a twisted new reality show, in which participants must fight to the death to earn their survival. Other combatants won’t be players’ only worries though, as the harsh climate will put even the most hardened survivalists to the test.

Darwin Project offers a competitive multiplayer third-person experience with an emphasis on survival. Players must withstand extreme environmental conditions, track opponents, craft tools, set traps, and even negotiate temporary alliances to be the last one standing at sunrise.

After months of carefully testing the arena’s lava temperature and optimizing armchair salvage placement, the team’s ready to break the shackles of code-based access and throw their doors wide open to the public!

Much like the alphas that came before it, the Darwin Project Open Beta Weekend will welcome new and returning combatants on PC. Unlike these alphas, however, joining couldn’t be easier. Simply head to Steam to pre-load the game’s client, and you’ll be set to join the manhunt between the following times:

Start: Friday, January 19 at Noon PST / 3:00pm EST / 9:00pm UTC +1

End: Sunday, January 21 at 9:00pm PST / Midnight EST / 6:00am UTC + 1

Kicking off the weekend’s festivities this afternoon, Scavengers Studio will take to Mixer from 2:00 to 3:00pm EST as they host three exciting show matches featuring a number of special streaming guests. You can’t get rid of Scavengers that easily, though. Over the course of the weekend, the team will also host a series of matches on Mixer as they test a feature that’s still early in development: Live Spectator Interactions.

With this feature, viewers can bet on the competitors they think will reign supreme and help the Show Director choose targets for their arena-shaping powers. Interested? Simply head over to Mixer this weekend (Twitch integration is planned for the future) and create or sign into your account to let your voice be heard! A breakdown of the team’s broadcast schedule can be found here.

In addition to giving beta participants a boots-on-the-ground experience of the tracking, crafting and survival of Darwin Project, the genre-defining Show Director will make its triumphant return. One lucky player per match will have the chance to monitor the battle from the skies and dole out punishment and support to any combatants who cross them with a whole slew of unique, arena-shaping abilities. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a whole server of players stop what they’re doing to hunt down the poor sap you just revealed on their minimaps. Classic.

New interactive features include:

• Stream hosts, called “Show Directors,” are host and master of the match, controlling the arena with nuclear bombs, zone closures, gravity storms, and the power of their voice. He/She can queue and trigger various in-game events that viewers can vote on and influence, enabling the audience to shift the rules of engagement, or even the arena itself.
• ex: The “Manhunt” power, viewers can collectively vote to select a Manhunt target. Once set, all match players are notified and incentivized to focus and eliminate the Manhunt target for extra points.

Releasing on PC and Xbox One, it is slated to hit Early Access in Q1 2018 and launch in spring 2018.