For Honor's closed beta is coming in January and it will give you a teaser of cross-platform Faction Wars

Would-be sword slingers, you're on notice: Ubisoft's multiplayer dueling game For Honor will get a closed beta in January 2017. This testing period will let players try out all 12 character types from the Samurai, Vikings, and Knights and contribute to the newly revealed cross-platform Faction War metagame for the first time.

If you played the For Honor closed alpha back in September you already know the basics: players clash in big, MOBA-esque 4v4 brawls or intimate 1v1 duels (and everything in between) using a directional attack-and-guard system that plays like a high-speed cross of rock-paper-scissors and chicken.

The War of the Factions beta event will add another persistent layer on top of those online brawls: all multiplayer activity will be tracked across platforms, and whichever faction does best over a set period of time will be named the winner. Everybody who participates will get rewards, but the victorious faction will naturally get the best loot. You can sign up for a spot in the closed beta on the game's official website.

This is all just a prelude to the competitive, territory-controlling Faction War metagame that will appear in the full game: in the course of each battle, players will earn resources that they can allocate to bolster their chosen faction in a big, cross-platform war effort. Each war will last 10 weeks with a brief off-season period between each. Sounds like a cool way to make your choice matter, even if it is still somewhat confusing that you can play as any of the heroes in multiplayer no matter which faction you side with.