EA’s DICE studio has blown the lid off the multiplayer for its upcoming military shooter Battlefield 6, and players will soon get to join the fray themselves. A Battlefield 6 public beta is coming on two consecutive weekends starting on August 9 — and if you’re lucky enough to get in Early Access, to play starting August 7 — and here’s how to join.

The Battlefield 6 open betas will be the first chances for players to get to experience the game’s multiplayer before its full release on October 10. The first open beta weekend will start at 1 a.m. PT on August 9 through August 10 and the second will kick off at 1 a.m. PT on August 14 and run through August 17. Fans can visit Battlefield’s website to get info for the open beta, which just requires linking your EA account to your platform account.

Note that publisher EA hasn’t provided a specific sign-up for the beta just yet, but it will be open to all players. We’ll update this post if or when EA has provided explicit instructions for signing up, but we do know the open beta can be pre-downloaded on respective platforms starting August 4.

The beta will be playable on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Twitch’s drops campaign list includes various campaigns that reward players for watching streams participating in the campaign — like this one granting early access to Battlefield 6’s public beta. Screenshot by David Lumb/CNET

How to get Battlefield 6 open beta early access

There is one way to secure your spot in the open beta a couple days early on August 7: watch your favorite streamer playing Battlefield 6 today (July 31), as explained in an official post on X. You can watch on the official Battlefield Twitch or on a participating creator’s channel, but you’ll have to do it fast as the event ends at 4:30 p.m. PT — here are the steps:

Sign into your Twitch account. Make sure you have drops enabled and the Battlefield 6 Early Access Beta Key Drops selected from among the drops campaigns list. Watch a single streamer participating in the Battlefield 6 Early Access Beta Key Drops for 60 minutes. Find your beta key access in your Drops Inventory.

Players who have participated in Battlefield Labs, studio DICE”s pre-release feedback program for the game, will be granted early access to play the beta starting August 7.

Studio DICE didn’t detail which modes, weapons and other options will be playable in the open beta, though they did confirm that “Closed Weapons” modes that restrict certain guns to certain classes will be available to try out. If the preview is anything to go by, players will be able to load up a handful of multiplayer modes, like Conquest, Squad Deathmatch and Breakthrough, on maps like Siege of Cairo, Empire State and Liberation Peak.

PC specific notice for Battlefield 6 beta

A special note if you haven’t played a Battlefield game on PC recently: studio DICE and EA recently started requiring players to set their computers to Secure Boot when playing Battlefield games in order to combat cheaters, and Battlefield 6 is no different. To even play the open beta, you’ll need to delve into your BIOS and switch your PC to Secure Boot — check EA’s guide for help.