PlayStation 4 owners who were disappointed to hear earlier on Sunday that 2K Games had to delay bringing the closed alpha version of "Evolve" will be relieved to know that the Big Alpha event is now running live on the PS4 platform.
Last week, Japanese console maker Sony released a major firmware update to PlayStation 4 to introduce a set of new features that include directly uploading gameplay highlights to YouTube and personalizing the PS4 with new themes and wallpapers. Unfortunately, the 2.00 firmware update brought with it more problems than improvements, with gamers reporting that they couldn't wake their consoles after putting them in Rest Mode. Others say they have been having trouble linking their PS 4 to their YouTube accounts, rendering the new YouTube uploads feature useless.
It wasn't just gamers who are experiencing problems with the firmware update. It turns out game studios also ran into snags as Sony released the update. On Sunday, 2K Games announced the unfortunate news on its website, saying the company has been "experiencing difficulties" with its alpha event for PS 4 following the 2.00 firmware update.
"We know that for many of the PS4 players this is a big letdown," 2K Games said at that time. "We're disappointed too, and we're going to do our best to make up for this delay."
However, 2K Games has announced at around 8:30 p.m. EST that Big Alpha is already available for PS4 users, albeit not without problems being reported.
"The PlayStation 4 Big Alpha test is now live," 2K Games says on its website. "As a big thank you to all of our players, we're also extending the Big Alpha test for ALL platforms until Tuesday, Nov. 4th at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. UTC)."
Evolve #BigAlpha is now available on PlayStation 4. We're extending testing for ALL to Nov. 4, 12PM PT (8PM UTC). pic.twitter.com/yzeDZIbPej
— Evolve (@EvolveGame) Nov. 3, 2014
The studio says it is also increasing server capacity for PS4 gamers as it expects bigger numbers rolling in from the PlayStation community. On Twitter, 2K Games says it is currently looking into reports about lobby/matchmaking issues on PS4 and PC and advises players to make sure that they are using version 1.01 version of the game. Early testers have also reported issues with creating multiplayer sessions and world not defined problems, and the studio says it is looking for a fix.
We're investigating lobby/matchmaking issues on PS4. Please ensure you have the 1.01 version of the game - check under Options/Information. — Evolve (@EvolveGame) Nov. 3, 2014
We're actively investigating the 'Cannot create multiplayer session' and 'World not defined' issues on PS4. Thanks for your reports.
— Evolve (@EvolveGame) Nov. 3, 2014
As a closed alpha session, Big Alpha's purpose for 2K Games is to share the game in development mode before officially launching it for the wider public. Gamers who want to play a work in progress should expect kinks and glitches as they test the early version so that 2K Games can smoothe them out before the wider release. Those who want to join Big Alpha can do so by registering at www.2kgames.com/evolve/bigalpha with the registration code 05379-29749-32069 and the referral code EvolveBigAlpha4v1.
"Evolve" is a sci-fi cooperative/competitive shooter game where four players team up against another player who plays a single monster. The game, which was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, was considered Best of Show by the Game Critics Awards at ES 2014 and garnered three other awards, including Best of Console, Best Action Game and Best Online Multiplayer.
