Update

iGame’s beta server addresses:

41.213.87.22:19567 – iGame Beta 01

41.213.87.22:19568 – iGame Beta 02

Original

Yesterday we announced that iGame had confirmed that it will be hosting a number of servers for the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta.

EA has since announced that the beta program will kick off at 7pm this evening. At this time servers around the world will go live, including iGame’s.

Local gamers will be able to download the beta client (game files) locally from iGame’s FTP servers. The cost of the 1.5GB download will be relatively insignificant if gamers make use of local bandwidth. Local bandwidth can be bought from most ISPs for around R10 per GB, and is also included with some ISPs’ international offerings. For example, Telkom offers 30GB of local bandwidth with its 5GB international accounts. In these cases it is only possible to access the local bandwidth once the international bandwidth is used up.

Unfortunately, as dictated by EA, iGame will only be able to release the beta client to public access at the time of the beta launch; 7PM. This means that come launch time the servers are likely to be empty as gamers will be downloading the required game files.

Some gamers have expressed anger that they need to preorder the game before gaining access to the beta. This has led to unfair criticism being levelled at some local retailers who are under strict instructions from the publisher to not provide beta keys before receiving pre-order payment.

As soon as iGame announces the IP addresses for their servers MyGaming will publish the details.