We've got two big Xbox betas to bring to your attention for this weekend, and the best bit is that they're free!

Firstly, before players get their hands on the Xbox Game Pass release of Payday 3 later in September, Deep Silver and Starbreeze have announced they'll be hosting one more preview round.

This will be an open beta - available to Xbox Series X|S and PC players between September 8th and 11th. This beta intends to give the servers a serious stress test before the game's launch on September 21st.

"We need to break the servers! We tested them last BETA, this time we want to break them."

In order to join, you'll need to navigate to the "previews" section of the Xbox Insider Hub, where at some point you'll eventually see Payday 3's Open Beta. It'll be available to play from 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST this Friday. It's also worth noting the content on offer in this open beta will be the same as what was available in the August playtest.

In addition, this weekend marks the arrival of an Xbox beta for Party Animals, which is also launching as part of the Xbox Game Pass September 2023 lineup. Again, you'll be able to check out the game between September 8th and 11th.

The difference with this one is that it's a limited beta, so it's first come, first serve. You can sign up to join right now via the "previews" section of the Xbox Insider Hub, with the beta start times set as 5am PT / 8am ET / 1pm BST on Friday.

"Recreate Games is eager to host the best cuddle puddle mosh pit ever, so they’re running a series of closed beta weekends to test the servers before the big day!"

As you may recall, Party Animals was supposed to get an Xbox beta last week as well, but it ended up being cancelled due to technical issues. The current plan is for two more betas over the next two weekends before the full game officially launches as part of Xbox Game Pass on Wednesday, September 20th.

Will you be joining in on these final few playtests before launch? Let us know in the comments.

[source videogameschronicle.com]