Black Desert spin-off Shadow Arena enters closed beta today

Black Desert Online‘s battle royale spin-off Shadow Arena enters closed beta today, Pearl Abyss has announced. The beta is available for PC on Steam and runs until March 8, 2020. The full launch is planned for the first half of 2020 on PCs, but a console version is also in development for a later release.

Shadow Arena is a battle royale game where 40 players compete to be the last one standing. Hunting down monsters and collecting loot will upgrade your gear, but you also need the skill to be able to reclaim victory. You can pick from nine characters, each one sporting an unique look and fighting style. The previous iteration of Shadow Arena, an actual game mode for Black Desert which was canceled a few months into testing, offered a different take on character selection – every player started as a black spirit and had to find and possess the body of an adventurer, among the various classes from the game.

The Shadow Arena beta includes two game modes, solo and team, with a skill-based matchmaking system. This means that you'll be paired with players of the same average skill, avoiding unfair situations where you face highly superior players.

Play the Shadow Arena beta for free on Steam until it closes on March 8, 2020.