Starting tomorrow, Anthem is going to have its very first closed alpha test. Invitations went out beginning on Thursday based on a first come, first served priority for registrations. Before the test begins, however, BioWare wants to make sure players have an accurate understanding of the alpha’s purpose. Game director Jon Warner published a letter to players on Friday morning breaking down the alpha’s nature and its importance with regards to the final game.

The heart of Warner’s message is that this test is true to its nature as an alpha trial. That is to say that it’s not intended to be representative of Anthem as a final product, and that there are going to be serious issues for players as they play. This isn’t like some modern beta tests that are effectively demos or marketing in motion.

What Warner is asking alpha players to do is log on for as much of the beta as possible and partake in the game’s matchmaking. Just by playing, the sheer number of players online at the same time will stress the servers in ways that will enable BioWare to make necessary improvements for the final game. Everyone will hopefully be able to have some fun with Anthem in the process.

“For this one specifically, we are focusing on load balancing and scale testing our servers and matchmaking. We will be focusing the time windows of the playtest to give you the best opportunity to experience a slice of the game with others. We will also shut down the servers and games multiple times without notice and bring them all up again. This playtest is all about the group experience and the dedicated servers. "

As for what kind of content players will experience for themselves in the Anthem alpha test, Warner is being intentionally vague. Keep in mind that this closed alpha test requires all participants to sign an NDA (twice!), so there will be no authorized livestreams, recordings, screenshots, or even discussions about the event. All Warner is willing to say is that the alpha will focus on content outside of Fort Tarsis, to help focus on matchmaking systems:

At the very least, that means Anthem alpha players will be able to do some activities. They will likely be able to fly around a bit in the open world, fight some enemies, and partake in at least one mission.

“We’ve focused the content on what is outside of Fort Tarsis to give you a chance to enjoy that experience. We’ve purposely built a small slice of the game, so we can look at those things while you play and enjoy the game. Therefore, the content in this playtest is about a month old and isn’t reflective of how the game looks and performs today or how it will at launch.”

Whether or not this is the only Anthem alpha test is not yet known. It’s entirely possible if not very likely that BioWare will hold more sessions even going into a beta. However, in addition to a potential big open public beta like some games do, we already know that Anthem will instead offer a range of demos.

Yesterday during The Game Awards, BioWare confirmed that those demos would be available starting February 1 for everyone, or a January 25 VIP demo for pre-orderers. Anthem is still a couple of months away, but everyone will get their chance to try it out before then if they remain patient.

Anthem releases on February 22 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.