Outriders demo: How to play, release date, and everything to know

In preparation for Outriders’ release on April 1, developer People Can Fly and publisher Square Enix are releasing a free demo for players. The demo is huge — nearly three hours long with both main and sidequests, along with the ability to test out each character class. After you’re done, you can transfer the data over to the full release. Since the demo for this upcoming multiplayer shooter is so big, we’re going to break down what you can expect, along with how to download it.

What’s in the Outriders demo?

In the free Outriders demo, players will get to play the prologue and opening chapter up to the first Altered boss Gauss, which amounts to around three hours of gameplay. This includes the main quests along with sidequests, although some sidequests won’t be available until after you complete the campaign or meet certain other requirements.

All four classes — Pyromancer, Trickser, Devastator, and Technomancer — will be available to play. There are six character slots, so you can try out each class. Outriders is a game you can play solo, but you can also play it in three-player teams, so co-op will be available, too.

The demo will be available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC through Steam or streaming through NVIDIA GeForce Now. Regardless of platform, you should be able to play with friends. Crossplay works, but it’s in beta and not turned on my default. You have to go to Gameplay Options and scroll down and toggle on Enable Crossplay. People Can Fly developers noted during an interview that there might be some issues creating parties cross-platform, but said that’s due to platform limitations, not the game itself.

The first few hours of the game are open to play as you want, but there are some limits. Items and enemies you come across will be early-game variants and players will be capped at level 7. This means they’ll be able to unlock the fourth class ability and two skill points. Resources will also be capped to keep people from grinding and maintain balance ahead of release. Outriders has a difficulty mechanic called World Tiers, which scale with you as you play, but those will be capped at World Tier 5.

There won’t be any achievements or trophies during the demo, but your accomplishments will transfer into the full release.

If you decide to continue into the full release, you can transfer your data from the demo. This applies from current to next-gen consoles since Outriders has a free next-gen upgrade. It doesn’t work between Steam and Epic Games Store, however.

Outriders demo release date and start time

The demo will be available on Feb. 25, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT. You can view other times above. It’s worth noting that you can’t pre-load the demo ahead of time.

There isn’t a set time limit on when you can play the demo. It’ll be available even after the game’s launch.

How to download the Outriders demo on Xbox

The demo requires a minimum of 22GB on your console, although People Can Fly noted on Twitter that it could possibly be more after decompression.

1. Go to the Microsoft Store.
2. If you don’t see the demo there, use the search function.
3. When you see it, select the demo.
4. Hit download.

How to download the Outriders demo on PC

The PC version of Outriders is slightly larger than the one on consoles and requires a minimum of 24GB, although possibly more.

1. Open Steam.
2. If you don’t see it on the front page, search the store.

Outriders is expected to release on April 1, 2021 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Stadia, and PC.