Following up on yesterday's promised reveal and confirming the speculative guesses of most, Unknown Worlds have announced July 26th 2010 as the launch date for their first Alpha test of the hotly anticipated Natural Selection 2.

Unlike many game's alpha and beta tests that restrict their players to a privileged few, the NS2 alpha will be open to anyone that has pre-ordered the special edition of the game. For those who haven't yet, you've got two weeks to sort it out if you want in on the Alpha test.

By giving out stuff earlier, we encourage people to buy earlier, which means we can fund the company without having a publisher involved. Remaining independent is not without its drawbacks, but was the right choice for us and has allowed us to build a proper sequel worthy of the original.

Here's what to expect:

NS2 Alpha 1 content

• One of our shipping maps (ns2_tram), plus some smaller "test" maps
  
• Marine, with Rifle, Pistol, SwitchAx, Grenade Launcher
  
• Skulks, Gorges, Lerks and their basic movement abilities and weapons
  
• Marine armory "buy" screen for purchasing new equipment
  
• Alien evolution menu for choosing your lifeform and upgrades
  
• Basic marine and alien commander interfaces including MACs, Drifters
  
• Much of our final sounds, artwork, animations, etc.

Check out the official site for more details.