Metal Gear Online 3 PC beta starts 12 and 13 January in US and UK

Konami has revealed a beta test for the PC version of Metal Gear Online 3 – the online portion of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain – will begin at 6am on 13 January. That's 10pm pacific time on 12 January in the US.

The news was revealed in a short live-stream hosted by Konami developers, who also revealed some new information about DLC in progress for all versions of MGO, including those on PS4, Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360, which launched back in October 2015.

The main thing shown off was a Mother Base-style map coming to MGO based on the forward operating bases in MGS5, where teams will be able to play the game's various competitive modes. Some gameplay was then shown including a new knife weapon and a glimpse of a new wig you can get for your customisable character. The devs also wanted fan input for the name of the new map.

MGO's PC release is still officially planned to launch in January but the live-stream offered no firm release date – instead focusing on the forthcoming beta that will stress test servers and offer the developers some last minute information for tweaks.

To access the beta, MGS5 owners on PC must go to the game in their Steam library, go to properties and then opt-in to upcoming beta tests. Those who do so will receive the beta as an update when it is live.

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