On 21 January, the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War II Multiplayer Beta launches exclusively for Soulstorm owners. The Beta features all four races, five multiplayer maps and Games For Windows LIVE TrueSkill Matchmaking.
If you’re a Soulstorm owner here’s what you need to do to get started…
Step 1- Open Steam
If you don’t already own a Steam account, go to
http://www.steampowered.com to download the Steam client and create an account for free. Once you’re set, open up Steam and click on the “My Games” tab at the top.
Step 2 - Add Soulstorm To Steam
If you haven’t purchased Soulstorm through Steam, or don’t have it on your games list, you’ll need to register Soulstorm first. From the “My Games” area on Steam, click the “Activate A Product” button at the bottom of the window. You will be asked to agree to the Steam Subscriber Agreement, after which you’ll need to enter your Soulstorm Registration Key.
CD Key Example: ABC2D-EF3GH-IJ4KL-MNOP5-67QRS
Adding Soulstorm as a “Non-Steam” game will not work. However, you don’t need to install Soulstorm if you don’t want to, it just needs to be registered on your games list in Steam for the Beta to work.
Step 3 - Install The Dawn Of War II Beta
With Soulstorm registered on Steam, all that’s left to do is wait for the Beta to launch on 21 January. When it does it will be added to the “My Games” area as “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War II – Beta”. Select the game to begin installation. You’ll need 2.3GB of free space to install. You can find out more on Steam, and you can check the system specs here.
Step 4 - Register With Games For Windows LIVE
Whilst you’re waiting for the Dawn Of War II Beta to install, go to
http://www.gamesforwindows.com to create a free Games For Windows LIVE account. If you already have a Games For Window LIVE or an Xbox Live account, you don’t need to worry about this step as you can just log in when you start playing.
Step 5 - Enter The Battle!
When the Beta has downloaded all that’s left to do is click the “Launch” button in Steam and log into LIVE. Once you’re in you can choose a ranked 3v3 team battle or select to host a custom public match online. If you want to familiarise yourself with the game before you jump into multiplayer you can use the custom public match to set up a battle against a computer-controlled opponent.
If you’re not a Soulstorm owner, you’ll be able to get in on the action next week, on 28 January when the Beta is released for all.
