Hell Let Loose Vietnam Open Beta — May 2026 Recap
The Hell Let Loose: Vietnam open beta ran May 29 to June 1, 2026 on Steam with 350k+ players. Dates, Thanh Hóa Bridge map, access and what came after.
When was the Hell Let Loose: Vietnam open beta?
The Open Beta Weekend ran from May 29 to June 1, 2026, on Steam only. It was free, open to everyone who registered through the FirstLook platform, and featured the Thanh Hóa Bridge map ahead of the game's launch. The beta is over now — the full game released on August 13, 2026 — but it remains the single most consequential test the game had.
The dates and times
The official "Release Date Announcement" blog laid out the window precisely:
- Start: May 29, 10AM BST / 2AM PDT
- End: June 1, 10AM BST / 2AM PDT
- Platform: Steam only
Players could register via the official enlist page, and the beta appeared as a separate install alongside the not-yet-released game.
What you could play
One map: Thanh Hóa Bridge, the game's first revealed battlefield, played in full 50 vs 50 fashion as either the US Armed Forces or the North Vietnamese Army. For many players this was the first hands-on with Vietnam-era Hell Let Loose — helicopters, tunnel networks, patrol boats and all — and content creators documented it heavily. The response wasn't uniformly positive; beta builds showed the performance and stability problems that would soon drive a launch delay.
350,000+ players and a delayed launch
The open beta mattered beyond the weekend itself. Team17 and Expression Games confirmed that more than 350,000 players joined, and that their feedback — combined with internal testing — led to the decision to delay the game from June 18 to August 13, 2026 to improve performance, stability and gameplay quality. Few open betas have had such a direct, documented effect on a release date.
What came after the open beta
Testing didn't stop in June. The studio followed up with the July Crossplay Playtest (July 24–27) — the program's first cross-platform test on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S — which introduced the Đắk Tô Airfield map. On console it required an active PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass Essential subscription, while Steam players used a "request access" button on the store page. Our beta history page covers the whole playtest timeline, and the crossplay page explains how cross-platform works in the shipped game.