Final Fantasy XV‘s four-player co-op DLC is getting a closed beta test for Season Pass holders next week.

Following DLC Episodes “Gladiolus” and “Prompto”, Square Enix is on the verge of releasing the next announced DLC expansion for Final Fantasy XV, “Comrades”. The presumably final expansion featured within the FFXV Season Pass will add a stand-alone multiplayer mode set within its own region. Those who own both the Season Pass and either a PS+ or Xbox Live Gold subscription respectively may participate in the closed beta when it goes live next week.

Participants may explore the world of Comrades with their own custom-made characters; up to eight may be saved, but the original quartet of Noctis, Gladio, Ignis and Prompto will also be playable once the DLC releases in full. Each avatar may be equipped with his or her own elemental power, however weapons are limited to katanas, clubs, daggers and shurikens for the duration of the beta; players can also equip one of four “Royal Sigils”, each of which provides an extra Sigil-specific gameplay quirk. Square Enix has not given details regarding the new region found within the DLC, however the beta is strictly limited to a base camp and a custom tutorial sequence; the full version contains a city complete with outposts, additional campgrounds, NPC quests and photography locations.

Players will be auto-matched into an online party for each of the three available quests; each player will receive a singular cooking ingredient and a “Meteorshard” upon completion, but the latter may not be used until the final version of Comrades launches. Once the full version releases- on an unspecified date- players can use Meteorshards to “expand the scope of available activities or to unlock new quests”. The beta will automatically match participants into four-person teams, however the full version will let players create their own custom parties, or tackle numerous single-player quests scattered throughout the world.

Final Fantasy XV‘s Comrades DLC beta test for Season Pass owners will begin on 8/3 for both the Xbox One and PS4 and is expected to last through 8/8. Again, both the Season Pass and a premium subscription- Xbox Live Gold or PS+- are required to participate. The third character DLC chapter, “Episode Ignis” will release sometime this December.

Source: Square Enix
Images courtesy of Square Enix