God Save Birmingham will hold its second public playtest from November 2 through November 9, giving players another limited chance to try Ocean Drive Studio’s physics-driven medieval zombie survival simulator. Publisher Kakao Games says Beta 2 includes an alpha version of co-op play, a newly added save feature, more cooking and crafting options, new weapons, and several changes shaped by earlier player feedback.
The test begins at 3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 p.m. GMT on November 2. It ends at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. GMT on November 9. Access can be requested through the game’s Steam page, with instant access planned for players who submit a request during the playtest sign-up period.
A second public chance to test medieval zombie survival
Beta 2 follows several months of closed testing and arrives after the game’s earlier June beta. The developer says more than 67,000 players are returning from Beta 1, a useful figure not only as a measure of interest but because returning participants can compare the revised systems against the earlier public build.
That comparison matters for a game still explicitly being tested in public. A beta is not simply a timed demo: it is a pre-release build intended to expose systems to a wider range of player decisions, hardware setups, unexpected failures, and feedback. In this case, the focus appears to be on whether the game’s survival rules create meaningful choices while players cope with a hostile medieval world and its undead inhabitants.
The physics-driven label is also significant. It suggests that the moment-to-moment survival experience is meant to be shaped by physical interactions rather than combat in isolation. The announcement does not detail every simulation system, so players should avoid assuming specific mechanics not listed for the test. What is confirmed is that the game is positioning its zombie survival around that physics-led approach, while Beta 2 expands the tools available to players.
Co-op enters in alpha form
The highest-profile addition is an alpha build of co-op. Players will be able to attempt survival with friends, but the alpha designation is important. It means this feature remains in an early stage of development and should be approached as a test target, not a promise of final performance or final design.
Co-op can substantially change the demands of a survival game. A group can divide immediate responsibilities: one player might search for supplies, another prepare food, while someone else focuses on securing an entrance. Yet shared play also puts added pressure on the game’s systems. Resource use, hostile enemy behaviour, player coordination, building security, and the consequences of failure all need to remain understandable when multiple people are acting at once.
For testers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: co-op feedback is most valuable when it identifies what happens in a specific situation. If a shared survival attempt becomes confusing, unstable, or unfair, noting what players were doing, where they were, and which systems were involved can help distinguish a one-off problem from a repeatable issue. The announcement does not provide a reporting process, but its emphasis on feedback-driven revisions makes clear that observations from playtests are part of the development loop.
Related coverage includes God Save Birmingham Beta 2 Opens November 2 With Co-Op and Saving.
Saving changes the rhythm of a public test
Beta 2 also adds a save feature. This is a major quality-of-life change for any survival experience built around gathering, crafting, shelter, and endurance. Without saving, a session can demand an uninterrupted block of time, and a failed experiment may erase too much progress to make a player want to try a different approach. With saves available, participants can more easily return to an ongoing survival effort and examine how their decisions hold up over time.
It is worth keeping the scope clear: the announcement confirms that a save feature has been added, but does not specify its exact rules. It does not say, for example, how often players can save, whether saves behave differently in co-op, or whether test progress will carry beyond the beta. Those are details that should not be presumed until they are officially defined.
Even so, the addition indicates an effort to make the beta more usable as a longer-form test. It can let players spend more time with the connected survival loop rather than repeatedly restarting its opening stages.
More ways to cook, craft and defend
Ocean Drive Studio is also expanding the broader survival toolkit. Beta 2 brings more cooking methods, additional craftable items, and new weapons. These additions point to a wider set of responses when food, safety, and zombie threats become problems.
Crafting refers to making useful items from acquired materials. In a survival setting, its importance is not just quantity; it is choice. A crafting system becomes more interesting when a player has to decide which need deserves finite materials now. The announcement does not identify the new recipes or weapons, so it is too early to judge their balance or roles. But testing whether the new options are understandable, worthwhile, and appropriately available will be central to this beta’s value.
Cooking, meanwhile, is often tied to food management and preparation. The newly confirmed cooking options may give participants more flexibility, but the details of ingredients, benefits, and limitations have not been announced. Players should expect a system in development rather than treat every beta value or option as fixed for release.
The new weapons likewise expand defensive possibilities, though their names and properties have not been disclosed. Their presence should be considered alongside the revised zombie behaviour, since a weapon’s usefulness depends on the sort of threats players face and the circumstances in which they can safely use it.
Zombies are becoming less uniform
A particularly consequential feedback-led change is greater variation in zombie aggression and general behaviour by zombie type. Rather than presenting every enemy as functionally identical, the revised approach is intended to make a zombie’s type matter more to its actions.
This kind of variation can improve the decision-making side of survival. If players can recognize different patterns, they may need to choose between avoiding a threat, changing their route, reinforcing shelter, or using a weapon. At the same time, variety must remain legible. Differences that are not communicated clearly can feel random rather than challenging. Beta 2 is an opportunity to see whether these changes make encounters more readable and more tense without making them arbitrary.
The announcement does not give a list of zombie types or spell out their individual behaviour patterns. That uncertainty is meaningful: the confirmed change is increased behavioural variety, not a complete catalogue of enemy rules.
Warm clothing and sturdier shelter options
Environmental survival is also receiving more attention. Clothing now provides different degrees of warmth based on its material. In plain terms, wardrobe selection is no longer merely cosmetic if the system works as described; what an item is made from can affect how well it protects a player from cold conditions.
This creates the prospect of a more connected equipment decision. Players may have to balance available clothing against warmth needs, though the beta announcement does not state whether clothing carries other trade-offs or exactly how temperature affects survival. The confirmed point is narrower but notable: material now changes the warmth a clothing item supplies.
Buildings should become more defensible as well. More varieties of doors and windows can now be barricaded or latched. Barricading means reinforcing an opening to make it harder or less convenient for danger to enter; latching refers to securing it shut. Either action can turn a structure from a temporary hiding place into a more deliberate part of a survival plan.
As with the clothing changes, the details are still unspecified. There is no published list of eligible doors or windows, no stated material cost for barricades, and no description of how zombies react to secured openings. Still, broadening the range of surfaces players can secure could make shelter selection less rigid, especially in co-op where several players may be preparing a location at the same time.
How to join Beta 2 on Steam
Players interested in the public test can request access through the God Save Birmingham Steam page. The stated plan is for those requests to receive instant playtest access. The test window is only one week long, so prospective participants should pay close attention to the opening and closing times rather than relying solely on the calendar dates.
- Opens: November 2 at 3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 p.m. GMT
- Closes: November 9 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. GMT
- Access route: Request access via the game’s Steam page
- Confirmed Beta 2 additions: alpha co-op, saving, more cooking, craftable items, and weapons
- Confirmed system revisions: more varied zombie behaviour by type, material-based clothing warmth, and additional barricadeable or latchable doors and windows
The Steam-based access route places this test squarely in the PC space. It is separate from broader device and hardware coverage, such as recent Apple Mac and iPad news; no compatibility beyond the announced Steam playtest has been specified here.
For God Save Birmingham, Beta 2 looks less like a simple repeat of the first public test and more like a check-in on the project’s developing core: surviving longer, securing spaces more effectively, making better use of resources, and seeing how those systems function when friends are involved. The new mechanics and adjustments are confirmed for the test, but their final form remains open—as is appropriate for a public beta.
