French video game studio/publisher Dotemu is in the news again. We recently reported on the studio being acquired by fellow French publisher Focus Home Interactive, as well as any new and future IPs that the company is working on. One of those IPs, Windjammers 2, is slated to launch this year, albeit without a concrete release date. Despite this, the studio is moving forward with their plans to allow the players to get their hands on the title, as they’ve just announced an open beta for Windjammers 2 and it commences this week on August 11 through August 22.
In addition, Dotemu also revealed the list of systems that the game will be launching on. The PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia. They also provided a video/trailer on how to play the game. According to the video, athletes will face off in online ranked play in a multitude of different arenas, beaches, stadiums, and rings. The open beta will include some playable characters such as Steve Miller, Biaggi, Sophie de Lys and Gary Scott. The open beta will allow PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 players to go head to head, but the PC version on Steam will be getting their own league to play in.
Sadly it does not appear that the Nintendo Switch nor the Stadia versions will be getting an open beta. Hopefully, Dotemu is able to put together some kind of beta, or a demo for that matter for those who wish to try the game out on those systems, but with such little time left for a potential release, it’s not very likely to happen. Windjammers 2 was originally announced back in 2018 during the Nintendo Indie Showcase with the intention of launching in 2019. Since then, Dotemu has been quietly working on the title, while also releasing Streets of Rage 4 in 2020. The game is a full-fledged sequel to the 1994 arcade title Windjammers, which also released for the Neo Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD.
Windjammers 2 is still slated to launch this year for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC through Steam, and Stadia.