Fortnite, the new action-strategy game from Gears of War and Unreal Tournament developer Epic Games, will get its first closed alpha test starting later today. A "few thousand" players will take part in the alpha, with Epic sending out invites to the game's first players this week.

The Fortnite alpha, which Epic refers to as Online Test 1, will run until December 19th on PC. Epic says the alpha is designed to help it "make sure all of our basic systems are working" and establish "a baseline for how people play in order to make Fortnite better."

"It's a little rough around the edges, but we're excited to hear feedback from real players and take this first step in bringing Fortnite to everyone," the developer says.

Announced back in 2011, Fortnite is a free-to-play action/building game in which players must build forts, weapons, and traps to protect their town from attacking monsters. The game is currently only in development for PC, but developer Epic Games has stated that it is open to other platforms in the future.