We've been playing some alphas/betas with the clan recently and had a great time especially with GTFO, so I've warmed more to the idea in recent weeks. Before, I would have said don't play unfinished games for obvious reasons, but now, especially given that most games are forever "unfinished" in this day and age, I say try some pre-release code now and then, it's exciting, it makes you feel like an industry insider with access to stuff few have, and it's free to boot. So I've been applying for all the alphas/betas as a matter of course on all the games in the Hype section, and I am making this thread to keep people informed on what's happening in the world of alphas and betas. There's a site dedicated to them, by the way, Alpha Beta Gamer, but their coverage is spotty and their frontpage is flooded with shit no one would want to play. They do have a "Mainstream" section that's worth perusing, but even that seems to ignore most of the best games and is rarely updated: https://www.alphabetagamer.com/category/mainstream/
NEW WORLD
So here comes icycalm to save the day with the best thread on the subject ever. First off, sign up to the New World [ > ] beta ASAP if you are interested in joining the clan for this fantastic-looking domination game when it launches in the spring (you'll need an Amazon account): https://www.newworld.com/en-us/beta-sign-up
The game will be cutthroat so the more practice we get before the official launch the better, plus it'll give us a chance to make up our minds if we like it, so that we don't end up paying full price for nothing in the worst case scenario as we've done with some of these games in the past. That's definitely a big advantage of playing pre-release code for free.
RAM PRESSURE
And then, I just got a key for RAM Pressure [ > ], an upcoming X-COM-like. Go to the official site and scroll to the very bottom and pick the free option to sign up for the beta: https://rampressure.game/
Chances are you'll get approved immediately, but if you don't, and if you have more experience of these games than I have (which shouldn't be hard as I've only played a couple hours of the 1994 original and a couple hours of Phoenix Point), I can give you my key if you're prepared to stream the game for a couple hours to the Insomnia Twitch channel and write up some brief impressions for us in the forum after. If no one else does this I'll do it myself soon, but I'd prefer if someone with more experience did it.
And that's all I have for now, but look for this thread to become prominent on the site as I'll be updating it regularly and I invite everyone to contribute to it whenever you hear of worthwhile sign-ups.
Thread is stickied at the top of the News forum for quick access.