Bellatores: Closed beta date, gameplay features, and other details

Bellatores is an open-world adventure MMORPG set in the 15th century, centered around conflicts between noble houses. Being made by NYOU, it shows great potential, at least based on what's seen via limited gameplay and cinematic shots in the developers' interview video. The website mentions July 8, 2025 , which is when the applications for "Closed Beta Testing" will begin. The CBT will start on July 30, 2025.

As per NYOU, it will offer "Thrilling combat, dynamic action, and the freedom to explore and gather." You'll be able to become the head of a noble house, take charge of its destiny, and embark on a journey toward glory. Your decisions may also alter the very course of history itself. That said, here's everything we know about Bellatores.

Everything we know about Bellatores in brief

There's a lot to take in, so if you don't feel like reading through the entire article, here's a breakdown of the features, mechanics, and what you can expect to see in-game:

Bellatores will feature a seamless open world with no loading screens.
Has a medieval setting with five unique houses that have their agenda, expansion plans, and strategies.
Players' choices could potentially affect the world around them.
Progression in the Mastery system will unlock new playstyles and ensure a non-linear approach to leveling.
Equipment can only be obtained through crafting and trading.
Appearance and stats of equipment will depend on the Mastery rank of the individual crafting.
Expert Masteries will be limited, ensuring diversified roles, and codependency and cooperation among players.
For the duration of the CBT, Bellatores will feature a non-targeting combat system.
It will be limited to the PC platform.
You will be able to swap between weapons in combat, and each weapon has a different rhythm, skill set, and strategy to make use of.

Everything we know about Bellatores in detail

Here's what Lee Gi Baek (producer) said about development goals:

"Bellatores was developed with the goal of reviving core aspects of MMORPGs. It is set in a seamless open world with no loading screens. The game aims to let players freely explore the world, gather resources, craft items, and team up with allies to face powerful monsters, all designed to be organically interconnected."

The goal is for players to do more than just compete and win, but rather set personalized goals and ultimately create the experience of being in a shared world. Lee Gi Baek says about the world of Bellatores:

"The game takes place in a medieval world facing political turmoil amidst a power struggle for the throne. After the fall of the kingdom, five noble houses with different ideologies and power vie for control."

In this setting, players will be able to start their journey in one of these houses and make various decisions along the way. With each house having its own values, expansion methods, and strategies, there will be a lot to choose from. Furthermore:

"The player's choices and actions won't just affect their personal progression, but will influence their standing within the house, the greater political order, and the balance of order in the world."

This system sounds very similar to the Landsraad that's part of Dune Awakening. It would appear that individual action will affect more than just personal standing in-game.

Moving on, Yang Yong Hee (creative director) talks about Bellatores' core features — the mastery system, which will allow players to accumulate mastery in different aspects rather than follow a linear leveling system:

"A key feature of Bellatores is its mastery-based progression. Instead of following fixed class paths or a linear leveling system, players will accumulate Mastery in different aspects of combat, survival, or crafting based on the weapons they use and the activities they engage in."

As players accumulate Mastery and reach certain Milestones, new unique abilities and/or combat styles will become available. This will allow players to, in a way, change their playstyle based on what Masteries have been acquired. This is somewhat similar to how progression works in New World: Aeternum, and should give players the freedom of choice. Yang Yong Hee further says:

"Crafting Mastery will also play an important role. Crafting efficiency, resource yields, and the chance to create rare items will all hinge on a player's crafting Mastery. Furthermore, equipment won't be available as farming drops, but are gained exclusively through crafting or trading with other players."

To ensure Mastery plays a part in all of this, the appearance and stats of crafted items will vary depending on the creator's Mastery. As such, there could potentially be endless variations of the same item based on RNG and Mastery. This will ensure that crafting is not just an optional feature but rather a core mechanic that intertwines with player progression and the community itself.

Circling back to Masteries, there will be limitations to how many "Expert Masteries" a single player can earn. This is being done to promote cooperation within the community and create codependency between players. Yang Yong Hee had this to say:

"There will be a limit to how many Expert Masteries a single player can earn. It will be impossible to obtain or handle everything on your own. To get everything you need, players will naturally need to cooperate with one another. This system was designed to encourage active community interactions, a core essence of MMORPGs."

This will ensure that players can create personalized characters with unique identities based solely on their Masteries. This, in turn, will affect combat, survival, crafting, economic, and political activities. The ultimate goal of this Mastery system is to avoid forcing uniform content on all players. Instead, each player will be able to roleplay based on their preferred playstyle.

This, again, seems very similar to Dune Awakening's class system, where players can invest points into a certain number of skills. This means that one character can only do so much and not be a jack of all trades.

About the combat system, Yang Yong Hee said:

"As of the CBT, Bellatores will use a non-targeting combat system, with controls designed for keyboard and mouse on the PC platform. The combat skills were designed with complexity in mind so that players can control the flow of battle by considering timing, status effects, and debuff combinations."

Based on the in-game footage that was showcased, there are a lot of similarities between Bellatores and Throne and Liberty. If you've played the latter title, you should feel right at home with the former. Yang Yong Hee further said:

"You will be able to swap between weapons in combat, and each weapon has a different rhythm, skill set, and strategy. This will make decision-making and coming up with diverse combat styles engaging. The Stamina system plays a key role in determining the timing of dodges and unique skills. The combat system is also designed for different engagements in mind, such as AOE farming, 1-on-1 battles against elite monsters, and boss monsters that require pattern analysis and teamwork."

Lastly, there's also some information about the Bellatores' first CBT that will take place on July 30, 2025. Here are the takeaway points:

The first for Bellatores CBT will take place on Steam.
The first CBT only supports Korean, so it will be conducted only in Korea.
Only two of the five houses will be available; as such, content will not be extensive.
The CBT will be focused on gathering feedback with regard to the non-targeting combat system, the Mastery system, and general player reception.
Development updates will be shared through regular communications.

That's about everything you need to know about the upcoming MMORPG. As stated by the developers, progress will be shared time to time. We can expect an update once the first CBT for Bellatores commences at the end of this month.

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About the author

Matthew Wilkins is one of the top writers at Sportskeeda Gaming, having crossed 16 million views in just over three years. Matthew currently writes for Fortnite, MMO, and other sections as well. Speaking with developers of the Total War franchise and reviewing numerous AAA games have been key milestones in his career so far.

Matthew is a Communicative English Major, and his skills and experience have helped him dig deep in the world of esports and gaming journalism. He prioritizes accuracy and ensures nothing is second-guessed. Being connected to the community is an important aspect of his life, as it helps him keep track of credible insiders and leakers to be among the first to report on breaking news.

Matthew grew up playing video games, with Age of Empires serving as his gateway into the world. Currently, he leans towards real-time as well as turn-based strategy games, 4x, and similar genres, and frequently binge-plays solo or multiplayer titles on PC. His love for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Stellaris are unparalleled, matched perhaps only by Fortnite. Matthew is also a vocalist and performs a variety of genres like Glam Rock, Pop, Heavy Metal, and Rock when not writing.

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Edited by Ripunjay Gaba