Beautiful Light playtest: how to get in, and what the waves looked like

Beautiful Light is not out, but people have played it since 2023. Deep Worlds runs closed playtests without any NDA, organised through its Discord. Here is how to be in the next one, and what the previous ones produced.

The three steps

1. Join the official Discord. Everything goes through it, there is no registration form on the website. 2. Watch the announcements. In 2023 the studio said its Discord insider role was what notified members of an upcoming test. 3. Expect a draw. Places are limited and, since November 2023, participants have been picked at random among applicants.

Deep Worlds also said in July 2026 that playtests would open on Steam as well, after the Discord waves. Joining both maximises the chances.

How big the waves will get

In July 2026, after a session with outside testers, Deep Worlds' CEO explained the plan. More than 200,000 people had asked for a slot, far too many for a studio of its size, and load balancing had to be tested first. So the waves grow step by step: 250 players, then 500, then 1,000, then 2,000, 5,000 and beyond, with Discord members served first. No date was attached.

What playtests have changed

Every one of these came out of testing, and Deep Worlds published each decision:

• Camping at the end of raids (2023). Nothing rewarded securing the artifact first, so players waited it out. The studio's answer: the first squad to secure it gets a clear advantage and becomes everyone's target.
• Performance (2023). Called mediocre even on strong PCs. The studio hired for engine optimization and has published FPS figures since.
• A raid on rails (late 2025). The fixed chain of objectives got repetitive, which led to the rework of the core game mode and the new points of interest on Ground Zero.
• Onboarding (July 2026). Judged bad, with early progression too hard. A tutorial is now among the studio's priorities.

Before you apply

Check your PC against the system requirements: the minimum asks for a GTX 1070, 16 GB of RAM and an SSD. Read the anomalies guide to know what hunts you, and our article on how playtests work for the full history of the waves.

What is still unknown

• The date of the next wave, and its size
• Whether a public demo happens before Early Access
• Whether playtest progress carries over to launch

Sources

• Deep Worlds news on Steam: the FAQ (21 April 2023), the playtest report (31 May 2023), the 200,000 wishlists post (1 November 2023), the 2024 review (27 January 2025), the 2025 review (14 January 2026)
• Deep Worlds' official Discord (discord.gg/project-bl), #leaks-wip: posts by Aherys, CEO, on 2 July, 8 July and 2 August 2026