The launcher open beta program is an opt-in function of the PDX Launcher v2 where you may see a preview of the next version of the launcher. The intention is for you, the players, to be able to verify fixes made to the launcher and validate that new features work as intended and in a non-disruptive way.
You can participate in the beta program by opting in in the “Settings” part of the launcher - When you do, the beta version of the launcher will replace the stable version on your computer. You will remain on the beta version until you opt out, meaning that you’ll be one version ahead of the stable version from now on.
A word of warning!
Participating in a beta program comes with some upsides - You’ll have the latest fixes as soon as we have them finished, and you’ll be able to use features others will have to wait for another three weeks. However! The code is hot off the presses and may (and almost certainly will) contain regressions and new bugs. We hope that you’ll report these to us on the forum in the relevant thread (the one for the beta version in question).
This is important: We do not guarantee that you’ll be able to roll back to the previous version without damage to your settings. Whereas we aim to be forwards compatible, launcher settings are not guaranteed to be backwards compatible. Before you opt in or out, you should back up your launcher settings files.