March of Giants' Pioneer Playtest opened on Steam on October 7 and runs through October 18, giving Ubisoft's 4v4 MOBA another public test before its planned Early Access launch in Summer 2027.
The playtest opened at 10 a.m. EDT. Ubisoft says access is available in North America and selected European countries, with players from the September 2025 Closed Alpha automatically invited back rather than having to request access again.
The test adds a progression track of its own
This round is not just another queue-and-feedback window. Ubisoft has attached a temporary Pioneer Program to it, with points awarded for completing PvP matches.
Reach 1,000 Pioneer Points and the account earns Pioneer status. Ubisoft lists several rewards around that threshold, including a profile badge, a Premium Early Access pack and a permanent unlock for the new Giant Pandemos when the character arrives on October 12.
"Permanent" has a specific meaning here. Ubisoft says Pandemos remains unlocked for future playtests and for Early Access, rather than being available only for the October test.
The programme also gives players more than one route to speed up progress. Ubisoft's pre-playtest announcement says wins award 100 Pioneer Points and losses 50, with additional boosts tied to selected Twitch and Discord activity. Those are promotion mechanics around the test, not a new competitive ranking system, so they are best treated as participation rewards rather than evidence of final progression design.
Returning alpha players are already in
Anyone who took part in the September 2025 Closed Alpha does not need to submit a fresh access request. Ubisoft says the game should appear in those players' Steam libraries once the test is available, though a Ubisoft Connect account is still required.
New participants can request access through the Steam playtest. Ubisoft says Steam will notify applicants once access is granted, after which the playtest can be installed from the player's library. That matters because the event is not being presented as an unrestricted public client download for every account in every region.
Ubisoft's October 7 "now open" guidance repeats the October 18 end date and the 1,000-point Pioneer threshold, so the core rules did not change between sign-ups and launch.
The game itself is still being presented as a 4v4 War MOBA built around playable Giants, soldiers and battlefield structures called Battleworks. That description is useful context, but this remains a development build. Ubisoft warns that players may encounter bugs, balance issues and unfinished features.
A developer premiere sits beside the playtest
Ubisoft also scheduled a March of Giants YouTube premiere for October 7 at 9 a.m. PT, covering playable Giants, Battleworks and developer discussion around the game.
The larger timeline is now clearer than it was during the earlier alpha: Pioneer Playtest in October 2026, then Early Access targeted for Summer 2027.
For players, the practical decision is simple. The current test is free, time-limited and explicitly part of development. The 1,000-point reward track gives regular participants something persistent to carry forward, but Ubisoft is still asking people to treat this as feedback territory, not the finished version of March of Giants.
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