A heads-up for fellow duders: the access code for the final phase of the Dark Souls II beta has been publicly announced, and anyone with a PS3 can use it to get into the third and final phase of the beta (edit: code has been clarified to be valid only in "American territories"). I just used the code and got in, myself.

38QQ-8DNE-97AA

This code is universal and was posted publicly by Namco minutes ago on their official Facebook page, so it is meant to be used by anyone who wants it. However, it will expire after 90000 people have redeemed it, so don't wait too long.

You can redeem on the code on your PS3, by going to the PlayStation Store and selecting Redeem Code. Alternatively, you can redeem the code by signing into your SEN (PSN) account on the official website here:

https://account.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/liquid/cam/account/giftcard/redeem-gift-card-flow.action?

The beta itself is not live for playing yet, but will be live for a brief 3 hour stretch, starting on October 27 from 2 AM to 5 AM EDT (A.K.A. Oct 26 11 PM to Oct 27 2 AM PDT). This means, if you successfully redeem the code above and download the game client on your PS3, you'll be able to start up the game and play only during that 3 hour window, not before or after then.

The content of this last phase of the beta is expected to be the same as that of the first two phases.

God damn it. I hate this. Stuck at work every time one of these drop.

@demoskinos: Follow the link in the OP. I'm at work too and I was able to redeem the code no issue.

''The Prepaid card code you entered is incorrect or is no longer valid''

...Oh well, I guess =/

Wow thanks man. I just tested and it has to be a US account, otherwise it says The Prepaid Card code you entered is incorrect or is no longer valid. What the fuck? Get your shit together, Sony.

Do you not have internet at work?

Worked for me! Thanks, duder.

Thanks, but how stupid is that its from 2 to 5 am only. I don't know if I want to play it that bad.

@grissefar: Nope. Ive got my phone and that's it and the SEN store doesn't load on my phone.

Was able to redeem it, thanks mate!

Fucking A! thank you so much OP.

thanks for the heads up, almost forgot about this.

The beta is on PSN+ in Europe for free also.

Worked for me, so thanks a ton OP, but fucking 2am? Thats insane.

Oh no problem man, just phone the code with the link and your account information to someone and have them snatch the beta for ya.

@yummylee: Are you certain you entered it correctly? It looks like its first come first serve and I was able to redeem it just fine.

@rorie@ltsquigs@vinny

just tagging these guys to this thread to give them a heads up in case they didnt know.

Worked for me! Thanks!

I copy/pasted it section by section. Must be a US only thing, though as posted above it's apparently available for Europeans on the store if you have PS+. I don't, mind... but eh, I'm still OK in waiting till the full release.

@yummylee said:

Yes, I'm pretty sure each region has their own code.

Thanks duder can't wait to play this!

Worked for me just now in Canada. Thanks for posting this.

Got it in Canada too. Thanks for the heads up. Guess I'm gonna have to set my alarm for 1AM CDT.

C'mon you gotta make a US account man. It takes less than five minutes. Maybe less. Some people have even been speculated to be doing it in four seconds.

I got in, thanks for posting the code duder!

Wow! Thanks Op. I guess I'll get into the beta after all. A little early for me at 5 A.M., but regardless I'm glad I'll get to try it out.

Well, I'm home now and somehow its not all used up yet. Manged to snag it.

So the 90k key lasted longer than the 5k key I can hardly believe my own eyes. Whatever will I do.

I JUST redeemed my code for the network test and I got in, so uh...there's still some room in case anyone is wondering.

Same, but that 2AM to 5AM on sunday sounds bad.

I just got in as well. After getting errors all day when it first sent out I figured I was screwed, but it looks like I have a reason to stay up all night after all. Maybe I'll just go to bed early and wake up when it starts.

And how do you know what time it is? All I can find is the European PS+ ps blog announcement which is of course the same time as the US key beta but it still pisses me off that it doesn't say the time anywhere, you know? I've been to the official Dark Souls beta page and their facebook page, and nothing. Of course, I've launched the beta itself, which doesn't announce the time either. How terrible is that? But it is nice to see a real beta that doesn't feel like a demo, which is rare these days.

@grissefar: The official schedule is here:

(US) http://beta.darksoulsii.com/us/schedule.html (11 hours from now)

(EU) http://beta.darksoulsii.com/uk/schedule.html (12 hours from now)

Thanks man. Anyway, to make matter worse, they chose to do it the morning after Europe changes to wintertime so that's one double clusterfuck, as they say.

Glad I remembered today. I'm gonna have to go to bed early and set an alarm for 2 A.M. Real excited to get some hands on time with the game. Hopefully Vinny's able to play too this time.