This weekend, from October 26th to the 27th, 2 PM to 10 PM UTC, developer Cathedral Studios is hosting a Halloween playtest for the closed alpha version of their free to play action horror FPS, The Bornless.
How to Participate in The Bornless Closed Alpha Playtest
If you want to get an opportunity at playing this Lovecraftian game early, then you can try hopping in this weekend’s spooky playtest by requesting access to it on the game’s official Steam store page. An email should arrive if you get accepted. By getting access to this playtest, you will also likely be eligible to participate in any other future test session. Wishlisting the game on Steam could also give you a chance to participate. Alternatively, you could also try getting an access key by hopping into partnered factions to see if they have any to offer. A list of faction partners is available in the game’s official Discord server, but also on this page on their official website. Another way is to keep a lookout for giveaways from partnered content creators referred to as Mythos Creators. Filling out this access request form is also another potential way of receiving a key for this playtest and future ones as well. The developers have also been hosting giveaways on Twitter previously, and they’re actually doing a last-minute one right now, where commenting on this X post could get you access to this weekend’s playtest.
If you aren’t lucky enough to get access now via any of the above methods but are interested in playing, then you’ll just have to wait for the next playtest, to which you can get access to using those same options. When you do get access, you will become eligible for all future playtests.
It’s not clear how many participants will be chosen to test. According to a message from the game’s community manager in their Discord, the reason they are limiting player numbers for this test period is because it’s their first playtest after a year of “intense development and revamping the game.” As such, they’re hoping to have onboard passionate players who can provide constructive feedback to help the developers bring the game into better shape for upcoming playtests.
Whether you get to play this playtest or not, you might want to tune in to Twitch streams for a chance at winning exclusive limited-time drops.
King of the Test Tournament
Gamers that are able to take part in this weekend’s playtest may want to join the King of the Test Tournament that will be hosted by a group of content creators called the Antediluvians. It will begin on October 27th and run from 2 PM to 6 PM UTC. During that time, players earn one point for every single extraction as a three-sigil demon. Get the highest amount of points for a chance at winning the following:
- 1st Place – 4 Enigma Boxes (2 boxes per player)
- 2nd Place – 2 Enigma Boxes (1 box per player)
- 3rd Place – 2 Enigma Boxes (1 box per player)
A bonus Enigma Box will also be awarded to 4 random participants. Enigma Boxes will be awarded when the game launches in Early Access, potentially early 2025. These boxes will also be possible to find in-game, and opening them rewards you with cosmetics. Head to the #events channel in the game’s official Discord server for details on how to join.
What Is The Bornless?
The Bornless is a free to play survival horror extraction FPS set in a Lovecraftian world with intense PvPvE gameplay against demons, cultists, and other players. Explore the cultist-ridden Farmouth Island off the Massachusetts coast with a partner as you collect various resources and complete objectives to survive and escape the haunted island.
The game centers around its core Ritual Mode, a duo game mode which consists of 3 gameplay phases: Loot and Explore, The Ritual, and Hunt or Be Hunted.
In the first phase, you and your terrified player partner start off in a cabin with your loadouts, exploring treacherous forests and abandoned areas in a huge dynamic open world in which you shoot down cultists and demons to gain Sigils and useful items while completing quests. From there you move on to the second phase, where you have to use incense to activate the Gates, which are ancient ritual sites where you undergo summoning events to get rare Sigils needed for the final phase. This is where more PvP action could happen, as every ritual you complete makes you more visible to other survivors. Whether you choose to team up with others or not is up to you and the players you meet. For the last phase, you’re completing the final ritual using Sigils to summon and embody a demon in order to hunt other players trying to escape. Everyone will have a limited amount of time to successfully reach the extraction point and escape the island with the collected resources.
Based on details revealed so far, players will be able to upgrade their characters with various weapons and abilities, while also enhancing their starting cabin into a strong base. When the game eventually releases, players can likely look forward to seasonal play progression in which you can unlock new skins and more while creating factions to participate in seasonal tournaments and global campaigns.
You can look forward to the game’s Early Access launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store potentially at some time in early 2025.
Are There Web3 Features?
According to the official FAQ dedicated for blockchain-related questions, the game itself is not powered by blockchain technology, and anything web3-related is completely optional. That being said, in the future, players will have the option to trade the cosmetics they earn in-game as NFTs on the game’s official website, but not directly through the game itself. However, the same FAQ does mention that the developers hope to one day have a separate blockchain-powered version of the game, one that would be accepted by Steam and other platforms, with the hopes of one day setting “the standard for what blockchain in gaming could really look like.” Whether that will happen or not, only time will tell.
“We aim to develop a form of blockchain gaming that is also recognized by platforms like Steam as a legitimate and worthwhile use of the technology (but until then we fully respect and encourage the restrictions against it).”
The game does have its own Genesis NFT Collection though, which for the studio served as a sort of crowdfunding campaign to help them develop a quality horror FPS game while exploring “a worthwhile blockchain experience.” The Genesis Collection is listed on OpenSea on the Ethereum network, with a floor price of 0.23 ETH at the time of writing. It’s not quite clear what the current utility for these NFTs are at the moment. The Bornless has been in development for 2+ years, and previously had plans to utilize NFTs in-game. But now that it’s undergone a major revamp, the blockchain side of things have become completely optional, making the PvPvE FPS more accessible to both crypto gamers and the traditional horror gaming audience.
