Star Wars Battlefront 2's beta will take place in October

EA has announced that the public open beta for upcoming multiplayer shooter Star Wars Battlefront 2 will begin in early October and include two gameplay modes from DICE's follow-up to 2015's divisive reboot of the beloved series.

The beta kicks off on PS4, Xbox One and PC on Friday 6 October, or Wednesday 4 October if you've pre-ordered the game. It will conclude on 9 October. The game will be released on Tuesday 31 October.

Participants will be able to sample a 40-player multiplayer match on the Theed map seen in Battlefront 2's first gameplay footage.

The map is based on the capital city of Naboo seen in 1999 prequel The Phantom Menace.

Players will have access to each of the game's four classes: assault troopers, heavy troopers, officers and specialists.

Playable heroes and villains will also be included, but it's not been announced who. We'd wager Darth Maul will be one of them though.

The other playable mode is Starfighter Assault. Full details will be announced at a later date but it seems the mode is an evolution of the dog-fighting Fighter Squadron mode from the last game.

All we know for now is that it will involve an "objective-based, multi-stage battle" and an "assortment of Star Wars' greatest ships". In the beta the mode will be set during the same era as the original trilogy of LucasFilm movies.

More information about Starfighter Assault will be announced at Gamescom in August.