GOA, Orange’s games unit and Mythic Entertainment, an EA studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that the Guild Beta for Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR) has begun. Over 10,000 guilds applied and those selected will have the chance to experience the game’s most expansive beta phase yet.,

An historic 750,000 applicants have signed up for the opportunity to enter WAR’s closed beta, and the selected guilds will join tens of thousands of new participants as the game enters the final phase of its closed beta test. Guild members, many with long histories playing a multitude of massively multiplayer online games,will test WAR’s recently added Guild, Public Quests™ and soon to come Heraldry features, new dungeons, Scenarios, user interface updates and more as the MMORPG advances towards its launch later this year.

“WAR’s Guild Beta is here and some of the world’s most experienced MMO players will now get a chance to play one of the most anticipated MMOs of all time,” said Mark Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “We look forward to seeing them beat, bash and burn their way through the world that we have created for their enjoyment. It’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s going to be glorious!”

“This much awaited phase is a major turning point for everyone as the launch becomes closer”, said Ghislaine Le Rhun, Executive Director of GOA..

Based on Games Workshop’s epic and longstanding tabletop fantasy war game, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning features revolutionary Realm vs. Realm™ (RvR) gameplay that immerses players in a world of perpetual conflict. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is scheduled for launch on the PC in the fall of 2008.