Electronic Arts' response to multiplayer sci-fi blockbuster Destiny, late February's Anthem, is to encourage pre-orders and sign-ups to the EA early access programmes.
Due Feb 22, 2019 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC, action game Anthem sends squads of up to four players into an unfinished world in order to secure humanity's survival.
It represents a new focus for Electronic Arts' BioWare studio, previously known for the Mass Effect and Dragon Age role-playing games and reflects the rise in popularity of shared-world shooters like retail juggernaut Destiny and free online title Warframe.
Before that Feb 22 launch, EA will release a playable demo to the public.
Though it's not introduced as the sort of public beta test common to other online games, a time-limited trial that allows players to try the game and developers to stress-test server capacity, the Anthem demo will be offered to pre-order customers as is often the case in these situations.
That particular pre-order bonus is to arrive beginning Feb 1, three weeks ahead of the game's retail release.
Additionally, membership of the subscription-driven programmes EA Access (on Xbox One) and Origin Access (on PC) circumvents the pre-order condition so that, as well as encouraging advanced purchases based on preview material, EA is ushering fans towards another of its income generators.
Should they buy Anthem, EA Access and Origin Access can also start playing the full game a week early on Feb 15.
That doesn't rule out a more general, no-strings demo release between Feb 1 and Feb 22.
Having showcased a gameplay demo at the 2018 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, EA and BioWare were present during PAX West 2018, which ran Aug 31 - Sept 3, to unveil a features trailer illustrating how singleplayer story and shared-world multiplayer are intended to dovetail.