Windjammers 2 is coming to PlayStation 4, 5—try the open beta tomorrow

Dotemu has confirmed that its sequel to the revitalized 1994 NEOGEO cult-classic is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and an open beta on both platforms is set to launch tomorrow.

Also set to launch on PC and Nintendo Switch, Windjammers 2 on “PS4 and PS5 was a no-brainer,” according to a blog post from Dotemu CEO Cyrille Imbert, seeing as how the “PlayStation community was extremely supportive of the first game.” Disc-tennis aficionados might recall that the 2017 rerelease of the original Windjammers debuted on PS4 and PS Vita before coming over to Switch in 2018.

Alongside the news about a PlayStation release for Windjammers 2, Imbert also announced that an open beta is scheduled to run from August 11th to August 22nd. The beta is free to all players, even those without a PlayStation Plus subscription, and will offer cross-generation play between PS4 and PS5 users.

The beta will include four characters—Steve Miller, Gary Scott, Loris Biaggi, and Sophie De Lys—as well as four stages. Those are Beach, Ring, Stadium, and Rooftop, and each has its own gimmick to keep things interesting. Beach is a more narrow court that will bring the bumpers into play much more, while Stadium has a 5-point zone that grows when a player scores multiple times in a row. The beta will also feature ranked matches.

Windjammers was originally supposed to launch in 2020, but Dotemu pushed it back to 2021 to work on feedback it received from the PC demo. The studio has made a name for itself over the last few years in revitalizing franchises side-scrolling, beat ’em up franchises like Streets of Rage and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but Windjammers 2 is the first game that it’s developing “100 percent in-house,” Imbert said.

Unfortunately, we still don’t have a solid release date for the game. Windjammers 2 is still slated for “later this year” on PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC.