Hey MechWarrior fans,

As we head towards the Founder’s Program, I wanted to update our loyal fans on what exactly they are buying, the MWO beta timeline and what this means for you. A press release and email will go out on June 19th to launch the program, but for extra clarity I’ll go over some critical points here for you:

We will achieve our Closed Beta 1 status (measured by a goal of sending out 10,000 beta keys in total), in the next week or so. Our next step is introducing the Founder’s Program time-limited offer (which includes new details!), launching Tuesday June 19th which guarantees Closed Beta access on the Injection date.

On July 10th, we are scheduled to move to our production hardware, allowing many thousands of simultaneous players to enjoy the game, also known internally as the launch of Closed Beta 2. As we continue to ramp up the beta testers (drawn from those early purchasers of the Founder’s Program), the next milestone is the injection of the Founder’s Program assets on Aug. 7th.

Yes, this date has shifted from July 17th to Aug 7th simply due to some key production hardware being delayed in arriving at the data center – proper testing on the new production hardware, ensures confidence the system can handle the demands of the exclusive Founder’s Program, hence the shift.

Come Aug 7th when the patrons of the Founder’s Program gain access, the game will still be in Closed Beta 2, with on-going patches added every 2 weeks; therefore, not every feature we have discussed on the web site will be playable. We expect to have each of the features we have announced and discussed on the website (with one exception), in the game by the Open Beta date (which cannot yet be announced other than Summer 2012).

The one exception is the Community Warfare pillar which is a complex system but extremely important. In not wanting to delay the game, logic dictates it be added post-launch. Once fans are completely familiar with creating their 'Mech and pilot trees, the depth of Community Warfare will be added, with the core of the community experience projected to be in-game within 90 days of open beta.

Speaking of BattleMech’s – one should not assume that all of the announced-Mech’s are currently present in the beta or that all will be available come open beta. Mechs are added one at a time to closely reflect the way they are announced on the web site, with an expected target of 10 unique model types along with all their variants, making for a total of approximately 40 different chassis at open beta, with new variants added at a very regular pace.

The value of the Founders Package is that it is a lifetime reward and recognition opportunity. All of the hard currency you get in the product will be yours to spend over the entire lifetime of the product, the Founder’s Tag which will be available on the forums immediately after purchasing your Founder’s Package will mark you uniquely for the entire lifetime of the product. The same can be said for the Founder’s ’Mech’s (playable starting Aug. 7th) -- they will be unique on the battlefield marking you as an original founder of MWO, as well as providing a boost to C-bill earning for the lifetime of the product.

This new frontier of online free-to-play titles really is a shift in thinking and we still have lots of work to do between here and open beta, when we will immediately work to put in the Community Warfare features and from there it will be a sprint to the invasion of the clans and so on.

For our European players, here is the answer you have been looking for: Yes, you can buy the Founder’s Package and you will never be blocked from continuing to play on the North American servers. Also, when servers are setup in your region, you will be given a onetime opportunity to transfer to those region’s servers taking everything you own with you.

And of course the elusive System requirements:

MechWarrior Online Minimum System Spec:

CPU:

Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz

Athlon II X2 245e

GPU:

GeForce 8800GT

Radeon HD 5600/5700

RAM: 4 GB

OS: Windows Vista 32-bit

DirectX: DX9

HDD Space: 4 GB

MechWarrior Online Recommended System Spec:

CPU: Core i3-2500 AMD Athlon II X4 650

GPU: GeForce GTX 285 Radeon HD 5830

RAM: 8 GB OS: Windows 7 SP-1 64-Bit

DirectX: DX9

HDD Space: 4 GB

Right now a duo core system is our minimum spec machine but it is also our main focus of concern. It is playable on those specifications and I have tested it myself but it is currently very much a minimum spec type of experience running on low-detail settings. It’s obvious that a Quad core system is the key as even the earliest Core 2 Quad systems run the game very well and it is our goal (since there are still so many out there), to optimize the Core 2 Duo systems to run much faster.

I trust this gives you guys all the information you need to be the best beta tester, potential Founder’s Program patron or simply a consumer of MechWarrior Online. Sorry if one or more items aren’t exactly as you would have hoped, but we’re working hard and we truly feel that all signs thus far demonstrate that the core experience of MWO is everything we could have hoped for and now, we just need to keep adding layers of features.

Thanks for reading and remember you guys are the best community in all of gaming, keep treating each other with respect and together we will bring MechWarrior back to glory.

Russ Bullock

President

Piranha Games Inc.