Blizzard’s newest franchise in 17 years (not counting spinoffs) Overwatch just got it’s beta launch date of October 27, as announced today. Signups are now open for those wishing to participate.

The developer lays out two important purposes for the beta. First being getting feedback on the gameplay to help fine-tune the shooter to the highest standards. Second involving stress tests to their server infrastructure to ensure no technical problems may occur. Beta testers will be split up into two groups to further help accomplish these goals.

A small group of testers will be placed in the Closed Beta group. These individuals will have regular access to the public beta test and sole purpose is to provide gameplay feedback through the beta forums. Leaving feedback on different heroes, maps, and abilities is highly encouraged.

Though the amount of players admitted into the Closed Beta group will be limited, though more spots may open in the future.

In order to get the most meaningful and constructive feedback possible, the total number of players in the Closed Beta will be extremely limited—though we’ll be adding more people from time to time to make sure we have the right number of heroes actively engaged.

The Beta Test Weekends group is much larger in bulk and will be focused on the ‘stress test’ objective of the beta. These larger scale tests will typically run over a weekend and are poised to cram as many heroes as it can into it’s servers. The number of heroes, maps, and gameplay modes will be limited during these weekends.

Multiple different Beta Test Weekends will be assembled in various parts of the world. We have tons of would-be heroes signed up for the Overwatch beta, and we want to give as many as possible a chance to play during the testing period. The first Beta Test Weekend is currently slated for after BlizzCon—stay tuned for more information following the event.

The first phase of the Closed Beta will start on October 27 in America with Europe and Asia regions to come online at a later date.

The beta is Windows-only and will require the Battle.net desktop app. Those selected for the beta will receive an email with instructions when the beta is ready to launch.

Those interested can sign up now.