EA UFC fans, It's about to get real.

EA just announced the upcoming closed beta for EA UFC 5 and opened up the opportunity for fans to participate.

You can sign up for it here.

Per usual, the closed beta is being released to arrange a platform for users to provide feedback to the EA UFC development team. Primarily, the users will be playing online matches.

The version will be a work in progress, and a forum will be in place to house the feedback.

If you're selected to participate in the closed beta, EA will send you a code that can be redeemed on your console's dashboard.

Capturing videos, screenshots, and streaming any part of the closed beta will be prohibited. Violating those rules will result in the revocation of access to the closed beta.

From a fighter and arena standpoint, 2-6 athletes and one arena may be available. It would be a pleasant surprise if there were more. While preparing for this kind of build, a development team will work to get at least one arena and a handful of fighters ready for the preview.

Ideally, large, medium, and small player models may be chosen for the beta. This selection of fighters should include an option to use some of the women on the roster.

This sample size should give the development team the necessary data to make the required adjustments before launch.

The official release date for EA UFC 5 has yet to be confirmed, but we can look at the recent closed beta history for EA Sports games, and it may give us a clue as to when we can expect the retail version.

Madden 24 had two closed beta releases.

The first began on June 23, and the second on July 12. Madden 24 was officially released on August 18. If this timeline is any indication, and the EA UFC 5 closed beta gets underway in September, an October or November release seems probable.

Again, we'll likely find out all the details by September 9 if the game's full reveal happens during the UFC 293 fight weekend as many expect.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.