Closed Beta For Total War: Arena Starts Sept. 1, Founder's Packs On Sale Now

Creative Assembly is getting ready to open up Total War: Arena to the masses again, 18 months after closing it off from the masses.

The 10th alpha for the free-to-play RTS has ended, and the closed beta is set to begin on Sept. 1. It will reset all progress and go on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the next eight weeks. If you have access, you can show the game off at will, as the non-disclosure agreement has been lifted.

And how does one get access? There's the usual "Join the Test" link on the Arena site. That takes you to the Wargaming login page for EU players -- you'll recall that WG is publishing the game for CA -- and we haven't been able to suss out yet whether NA players can get into the test.

(UPDATE: The link above directs you to the EU site, which has a .net suffix. For the NA version of the site, and the ability to sign up for the beta, you have to visit the NA site, which has a .com suffix.)

If you don't like your chances, you can -- wait for it -- buy a Founder's Pack! These do seem to be available for players in both North America and Europe. Packs range in price from $9.99/9.99 euros to $99.99/99.99 euros. All packs grant you access to the upcoming beta, 30 days of premium status (counted both during closed and open beta), and some measure of gold, the game's real-money currency. More expensive packs grant you more cosmetics and some premium units, which we're sure are totally balanced and won't lead to anyone screaming "pay to win"!