Vermintide 2's Versus mode was first announced in 2019 and then developer Fatshark went silent about it; after four years of the usual suspects earning upvotes by whining about how Versus mode didn't exist and how they were being cheated, a closed Alpha test was finally confirmed last year with the announcement that Versus mode was still in the works. That closed alpha is now complete, followed by an open alpha in which anyone can participate directly from Vermintide 2's main menu.

In a developer blog on the results of the closed alpha, design director Joakim Setterberg shares some of Fatshark's takeaways from the test. For starters, the test went well; as Setterberg says, "we got a lot of good feedback, the servers were fairly stable, and we didn't see any overly worrisome crashes or issues that would prevent play."

Just over 3,600 players were able to try out the mode and play PvP on the Screaming Bell map. Players are already accustomed to playing Pactsworn, so it is not surprising that Hero outperformed Pactsworn, where it seems that a lot of balancing will take place. Players may have already seen the results in the current alpha.

The map currently being tested is Righteous Stand, where players fight over several rounds. Up to four players can participate on each side, alternating in each round as Hero and Pactsworn specials. At the end of the match, a scoreboard is displayed to show which team is the overall winner.

Testing for this round will run through March 18, and if you're not interested in PVP, a sixth anniversary event will be held at the same time, doubling XP and making a pub crawl map called A Quiet Drink available again. You can find it under the Weekly Event tab in Matchmaking. Clearing the map during this event will earn you a new anniversary portrait frame for your avatar.