Are you human or Cylon? It's time to choose, because today marks the launch of Battlestar Galactica Online's open beta! The free-to-play, browser-based MMO is set during the latter part of the show’s second season and features a combination of tactical space combat, exploration and mission-based gameplay.

For the first six weeks, Syfy is Bigpoint’s exclusive distribution partner for the game. You can play the MMO on Syfy's site and earn an exclusive Syfy Colonial Viper or Cylon Raider by starting the game, entering the chat command /syfy ship on and restarting.

For more details on the game, head over to the official Battlestar Galactica Online site. You can also see the MMO in action in the gameplay trailer after the jump.

Bigpoint has announced in a forum post that the Battlestar Galactica Online open beta will begin no later than Feb. 8, which means everyone will be invited to play the game. The beta will be comprised of three global servers when it launches: Tauron will be located in the European datacenter, while Scorpia and Caprica which will be located on the East and West coasts in the US. More servers will be added as needed.

It's important to note that English is the official in-game chat language of the open beta global servers. Husker, a member of the community team, said in the discussion thread that Bigpoint "had to choose an international spoken language for international servers."

If you'd like to see Battlestar Galactica Online in action, be sure to check out the gameplay trailer that was released earlier this week.

[Via Eurogamer]

The title of this news post is pretty much self-explanatory, but if you need a little more backstory here, Battlestar Galactica Online has just announced on their Facebook page that they are planning to "significantly ramp up the number of Closed Beta Testers in the next few days." The short status update also goes on to specify that activated closed beta accounts will also be able to create a character on both the EU and the US servers.

Hopefully this means that a lot of BSG fans who have been patiently waiting to check out the closed beta of the game will finally get the chance to do so, so keep your eyes glued to your inboxes. You never know when that golden ticket will come!

Bigpoint just released the first official gameplay trailer for Battlestar Galactica Online, its upcoming MMO based on the sci-fi television series. The trailer is comprised completely of in-game footage, so check it out after the jump for a glimpse at the 3D browser-based game in action.

Battlestar Galactica Online is currently in closed beta, but Bigpoint plans to begin the open beta in the first quarter of this year. When the game launches in the United States, it will be available exclusively on Syfy.com for a 30-day period.

Bigpoint just announced that Battlestar Galactica Online has successfully entered the first phase of closed beta. Thousands of hand-selected players from Europe and the United States have been given an opportunity to test the game, and more participants will be added on a daily basis until the open beta begins in December.

Players who participate in the closed beta will be able to complete a tutorial mission as a human or Cylon. Once that's done, testers are free to explore the universe in Battlestar Galactica Online. Head over to the game's official site to register for the closed beta.

Shortly after the Battlestar Galactica Online official teaser trailer was released at E3 last month, ZAM got in touch with publisher Bigpoint Games to learn more about the upcoming MMO in one of the most extensive Q&As to date. We were able to confirm several important facts about the free-to-play MMO from Bigpoint CTO Jan Wergin, including some behind-the-scenes production details (Ronald D. Moore and David Eick were both involved in the development process, among other Battlestar alumni like series composer Bear McCreary). However, when it came to specific gameplay details, Wergin remained relatively tight-lipped, promising that more info would be released at this year's Comic Con in San Diego (currently underway until July 25). In press release issued yesterday, Bigpoint summarizes a few of the Battlestar Galactica Online gameplay details being unveiled this weekend at the convention.

Bigpoint confirms that new players will have the opportunity to create a pilot belonging to either the Human or Cylon faction, capable of developing their character "into a skilled and experienced officer capable of using the most advanced combat systems and commanding the largest and most powerful ships," according to the release. Characters will be fully customizable and represented by an in-game avatar, earning experience points to gain higher ranks and new skills. The release also announces two mission types that will be available; "Story Missions" and "Assignments." Story missions drive the ongoing plot and are gradually unlocked as players progress through the ranks, rewarding them with XP, resources and ship systems. Players obtain daily Assignments missions by talking to important characters at their home fleets, or performing "Duties," which are part of Battlestar Galactica Online's achievement system.

Finally, Bigpoint announces new details about ship classes and ship customization. The MMO will feature several playable ship classes, divided into three "tiers," depending on the size of the ships and their role in the fleet. Tiers consist of small, medium and large, while roles are distinguished by Offensive, Defensive and Command classes. "Each ship class has a specific number of slots for Ship Systems, which are items that grant ships abilities and bonuses when installed," the release states. "There are four general categories of ship systems (Weapon, Hull, Engine and Computer) and three sizes (small, medium and large)." Players begin with small ships, but collect resources and gain XP to requisition larger vessels (multiple ships can also be obtained, allowing players to pilot different classes). "The different combinations of ship class and systems determine what a character can do in combat, and their skills determine how well they can do it, allowing for a huge variety of different playstyles and combat roles," the release states. "Each standard ship can be upgraded into an elite version of its class. The upgraded versions of each ship class will have additional system slots, stronger and more durable hulls, and visual customization options."

Battlestar Galactica Online will launch later this fall at SyFy.com. Read the full press release after the jump, and check out ZAM's BSG Online portal site for more news and information.

Gamers caught their first glimpse of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica Online (BSG Online) earlier this month at E3, when developer Bigpoint Games released the MMO's first teaser trailer and showcased some early, in-game footage. Inspired by the SyFy Channel's "re-imagined" Battlestar Galactica TV series from producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, Bigpoint is developing the free-to-play, browser-based MMO with the Unity game engine. Since ZAM didn't have time to talk about BSG Online with the developers at E3, we decided to pursue a more comprehensive Q&A instead. This week we talk to Bigpoint Games CTO Jan Wergin from the company's headquarters in Germany, where it reigns supreme as the country's largest games portal (and one of the top three in the world).

In this interview we get a heap of detailed answers about the upcoming Battlestar Galactica MMO from Wergin, who says the free-to-play, browser based game couldn't be in better hands. Wergin confirms that series producers Moore and Eick were both involved in the MMO's development, and explains why some of the most cynical fans were impressed with Bigpoint's use of the Unity game engine. We learn more about the MMO's third-person "avatar mode" and the full range of PvP and PvE gameplay available for both "Human" and "Cylon" factions. Finally, Wergin describes BSG Online's micro-transaction revenue model (if you can buy it, you can earn it for free) and drops a few hints about more details that might be announced next month at Comic Con in San Diego. If you're a fan of Battlestar Galactica, this is one interview you don't want to miss; check out ZAM's full Q&A after the jump!

We've been cautiously excited about the newly-announced Battlestar Galactica MMO since early-March, when we reported the German browser games developer/portal Bigpoint acquired the rights-to-develop the MMO based on NBC Universal's Battlestar Galactica IP. Bigpoint, in association with NBC Universal and the SyFy Channel, will be unveiling its browser-based Battlestar Galactica MMO (inspired by the reboot, not the original) at next week's E3 expo in Los Angeles. In anticipation of the expo, Bigpoint recently debuted the first Battlestar Galactica MMO teaser-trailer, which ZAM readers can view after the jump.

The teaser is 90 seconds long and showcases a variety of impressive-looking space combat scenes; however, it's unclear whether these scenes are purely cinematic or represent actual in-game footage. Since the free-to-play MMO will employ a hybrid browser plug-in technology (like Free Realms), it's more likely that these scenes are cinematic footage. However, Bigpoint CTO Jan Wergin described the gameplay style as incorporating both third-person avatar and "twitch"-inspired ship combat, as we noted in our initial news report, so we're looking forward to seeing more news from E3 next week. Watch the full Battlestar Galactica teaser trailer after the jump, and check out Bigpoint's official BSG website to sign up for news updates from the developer.

If the headline inspired a double-take, you're not alone; we were just as surprised to find out that a Battlestar Galactica MMO is just over the horizon. The news came out-of-the-blue yesterday from the Games Developers Conference in San Francisco, Calif., according to a recent article by Gamasutra. As reported by the Web site, the German browser games developer/portal Bigpoint acquired the rights-to-develop the MMO based on NBC Universal's Battlestar Galactica IP. In previous coverage, Gamasutra reported Bigpoint is splitting its offices between Hamburg and Silicon Valley; the new U.S. office will develop the recently-announced Battlestar Galactica MMO.

According to Gamasutra, the upcoming MMO is based on the recent SyFy reboot, not the original show. Aiming for a late-2010 release, Bigpoint announced the game will be a free-to-play, browser-based MMO with both third-person avatar and "twitch"-inspired ship combat. So far, Bigpoint's description of the MMO's gameplay leads us to speculate that it will be a "browser plug-in" hybrid, similar in execution to MMOs like Free Realms or Battlefield Heroes. In a recent interview with Massively, Bigpoint CTO Jan Wergin described the gameplay style:

"It's going to be a tactical shooter with a lot of interaction and questing rewards system. It's not just going to be a space shooter, but it's also going to have the whole [...] storyline to it, so really deeply immersive."

Like most Battlestar fans, many of us here at ZAM are crossing our fingers, hoping the world's first BSG MMO is "done right," and stays truer to the spirit of the TV show than previous video game attempts. Stay tuned for more news and information as it breaks!