Xbox Vanguard Beta: When does Early Access start ahead of the Open Beta?

It's almost time, Xbox players! The Vanguard Beta is headed to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and we can't wait to jump into it. Here's everything you need to know about Early Access, the Open Beta, and what to expect from it all.

BETA REWARDS - What's in it for you?

Of course, playing the Vanguard Beta is going to be reward enough - however, there are a few extras you can pick up if you play enough over the next few days.

If you reach level 20 in the Vanguard Beta - whether that's during Early Access or the Open Beta period - you'll receive the following:

• A Weapon Blueprint for Call of Duty Vanguard and Warzone, available in Vanguard following the game’s launch on November 5, and in Warzone when the new main map launches later this year.
• An Arthur Kingsley Operator in Call of Duty: Mobile, available shortly after the end of the Beta.

The Weapon Blueprint has been confirmed to be the Rat-a-tat Weapon Blueprint for the STG-44. If you've played the Vanguard Beta already, or seen any footage, you'll know that this weapon is a beast. Having a Weapon Blueprint ready to go from the off isn't going to be a bad thing come November 5th.

EARLY ACCESS - When does the Beta start?

Weekend Two of the Vanguard Beta - which is going to be available on Xbox, finally - is going to start on September 18th and run until September 20th. This is going to be an Open Beta access period which means you'll be able to find it on the Xbox Store and play it without Xbox Live Gold!

There is an Early Access period you should know about, though. If you've pre-ordered any version of Call of Duty Vanguard on an Xbox console, you can actually get Early Access to the Vanguard Beta on Xbox platforms.

If you pre-ordered Vanguard digitally, you should already have access to the Vanguard Beta on the Xbox Store. If you ordered it through a retailer, you should have a code you'll need to enter on callofduty.com/betaredeem to redeem your download code for the Vanguard Beta.

Early Access to the Vanguard Beta on Xbox platforms runs from September 16th, so that's two extra days of Vangaurd Beta! It should go live at the following times:

• 10:00 PST
• 13:00 EST
• 18:00 BST

However, last week's PlayStation Beta went online a couple of hours before...

DOWNLOAD SIZE - How much space do you need?

At the moment, we don't know for sure how much storage space the Xbox version of the Call of Duty Vanguard Beta is going to take up. On PS5, the Vanguard Beta is around 35GB in size - at the moment - so we're expecting something similar on Xbox Series X|S.

It could be a little less for current-gen consoles, though. However, we are expecting the Vangaurd Beta to get a title update over the next 24 hours - ahead of the start of Early Access.

We're not sure how Sledgehammer Games is going to change the game just yet, but we do know there's a little bit more to come from the Vangaurd Beta in Weekend Two. Here's what to expect...

WHAT TO EXPECT - Multiplayer maps and more

Sledgehammer Games shared everything expected to show up in the Vanguard Beta last week and we have that list for you below.

It's also worth noting that this doesn't mention weapons - you'll be pleased to know the MP-40, STG-44, BAR, MG-42, M1 Garand... All your favourites show up in the Vanguard Beta.

• Multiplayer Maps;
  • Champion Hill;
  • Hotel Royal;
  • Gavutu;
  • Red Star;
  • Eagle's Nest (available during Weekend Two);
• Multiplayer Modes;
  • Champion Hill (Solos, Duos, Trios);
  • Team Deathmatch;
  • Domination;
  • Kill Confirmed;
  • Patrol (available from Saturday of Weekend One);
  • Search and Destroy (available during Weekend Two);
• Weapons Availability;
  • Champion Hill;
    • Weapons are persistent through matches. There are ten upgrades per weapon, each adding one attachment;
    • There will be three rotating weapon sets, featuring 2 ARs, 2 LMGs, 2 snipers, 2 shotguns, and 2 pistols;
  • Core Multiplayer
    • For Core MP, you'll be able to level up weapons to level 30;
    • PlayStation players will get +2 custom loadout slots (12 total, 10 for other platforms);

• Operators Availability;
  • Please note, each Operator will have one finishing move attached;

• Daniel Takeyatsu
• Roland Zeimet
• Lucas Riggs
• Polina Petrova
• Wade Jackson
• Arthur Kingsley

For more information, check out the Call of Duty Blog Post on Weekend Two of the Vanguard Beta here.

COMBAT PACING - New feature for Vanguard

Vanguard's Combat Pacing is something you won't have experienced before in Call of Duty on Xbox and it's worth knowing what's going on.

Essentially, Combat Pacing dictates how many players are in the lobby at any one time. The Vanguard Beta on Xbox is going to offer three levels of Combat Pacing.

• Tactical: These are the lobbies that franchise veterans know well. This is the experience that you're used to with classic Call of Duty combat timing. Tactical Combat Pacing is always 6v6.
• Assault: Balanced combat pacing that gives you enough room to breathe and a lot of targets to kill. In Beta Weekend 1, player counts will vary between 20-28 players.
• Blitz: High-action lobbies where the intensity is cranked up to frenetic levels. Prepare for plenty of combat when choosing to join a Blitz. In Beta Weekend 1, player counts will vary between 28-48 players.

At the moment, these options aren't available to be filtered - well, they weren't in Weekend One - but they will be available in the full release of Call of Duty Vanguard.