Mechwarrior Online is now on Steam

Mechwarrior Online's Community Warfare mode was originally expected to be operational in early 2013, but it didn't get into open beta until late in 2014.

Community Warfare mode was originally expected to be operational in early 2013, but it didn't get into open beta until late in 2014. That longer-than-expected wait frustrated a lot of players, and CW certainly wasn't perfect when it kicked off, as we noted in our preview. But it was a big and much-needed step in the right direction, and with today's launch on Steamit's now "ready for full player participation."

"We're entering a new phase of our development of MechWarrior with this latest update, and we're excited to begin engaging our loyal fan base in new ways as we head into the next year," Piranha Games President Russ Bullock said. "It's been a long road to today's update with a lot of challenges that we've overcome with the support of the MechWarrior community, and we're looking forward to meeting the new pilots on the battlefield as we continue to expand MechWarrior Online."

Further "large updates" are expected in the near future, and Piranha is also livestreaming a launch event from its headquarters tomorrow, from 5 pm to 1 am PST, on Twitch.