Destiny's beta on PS4 and PS3 starts July 17—Xbox platforms get it a week later

Your Destiny beta begins later this month … as long as you preordered the upcoming and anticipated sci-fi shooter.

Developer Bungie revealed today that the Destiny beta test will start on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on July 17. A week later—July 23—the Xbox One and Xbox 360 version of the sci-fi shooter’s latest testing phase begins. The beta then continues on both platforms until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time July 27. To get into this technical tryout, gamers must preorder Destiny.

“As we prepare to launch our first beta on multiple console platforms around the world, we are excited and eager to open the flood gates,” said Bungie president Harold Ryan. “We already love to play Destiny, and with your help we can be ready for our launch in September.”

The PlayStation version shuts down July 21 and July 22 while Bungie performs maintenance. It reopens July 23 alongside the Xbox versions.

The game is due out Sept. 9 for PlayStation and Xbox platforms. The shooter features a number of massively multiplayer online elements, and this beta (along with the alpha test in June) should help Bungie improve Destiny’s performance in real-world situations.

Destiny publisher Activision and Sony are partnering up for Bungie’s latest would-be blockbuster. This has the PlayStation version getting some exclusive content and some expansions before the Xbox One or Xbox 360. This is similar to the deal that Activision has with Microsoft for the Call of Duty franchise. Activision and Sony’s deal is likely why the PS4 and PS3 are getting the beta first and for a longer period of time.