Gravhounds Playtests Are Underway

On 12 September 2026 Octopus Panic posted Playtests Are Underway on the Steam news hub for GRAVHOUNDS (app 2440760). That is the first public schedule for a named wave, not a 1.0 launch. Early Access / Game Preview is still dated 2 November 2026. This article is the news recap. The how-to for requesting access stays on Playtest Access.

What the studio wrote

They have started inviting players into the playtest in limited waves, and they will keep expanding the pool over successive playtests. If you already requested access through Steam, you are in the pool. They have not opened the floodgates. More invites go out over time.

They are also distributing additional playtest keys through the official Discord. That is a second chance, not a paid key shop. Confirm the invite URL against links.

Dated window (Pacific time)

Steam table for this wave:

• Start: Friday 11 September, 6:00 PM PDT (2:00 AM BST on 12 September)
• End: Tuesday 15 September, 6:00 PM PDT (2:00 AM BST on 16 September)

If you are reading this after that end stamp, the wave is over. Request access anyway; the post says successive playtests will follow. Do not treat a closed window as a cancelled game. November 2 is still the Game Preview date on Early Access and platforms.

Stay in the loop

Official list from the same post:

• Discord: discord.com/invite/gravhounds
• X: x.com/Gravhounds
• TikTok: tiktok.com/@gravhoundsgame

Those three now also live on the links hub. Steam remains the request-access door. Xbox Game Pass is not this playtest. Game Pass is the November 2 Game Preview path.

What to do if you get in

The studio thanked people who already jumped in, found bugs, and sent feedback. Useful notes match what they asked for on the Early Access FAQ: pipe feel, beam accidents, extract clarity, matchmaking, performance. Read Getting Started, controls, and How to build so your first granted hour is not a tutorial in the chat.

NDA, if any, is defined by the Steam grant. This wiki will not host leaked build numbers from a wave.

What this is not

It is not a retail release. It is not a promise that every Steam request installs tonight. It is not Xbox console playtest unless Xbox or Discord says so in a later post. The Hello, world! announcement from August still describes a seven-person crew in Seattle and Stockholm that spent three years on the game mostly in secret. Waves are how that crew lets a few packs in before November.

How this wiki will treat later waves

When Octopus Panic posts another Steam news table, this URL should gain a dated subsection rather than a rumor paragraph. We will not guess a second weekend. We will not list unofficial Discord bots that claim to jump the queue. The Playtest Access how-to stays the request recipe; this page stays the news desk.

Prepare like a coworker: controls so the rig is not a surprise, weapons so a pulse rifle is a known word, How to extract so you leave with the crate. A granted hour spent in the dropship menu is a wasted invite.

Xbox Series players who only subscribe to Game Pass should not expect this Steam wave to install on the console this week. The studio’s September post talks only about Steam requests and Discord keys, not a console grant. Console Game Preview remains the November date on platforms.

If you miss this window, stay on the Steam request button and the Discord. Then play Game Preview on 2 November. COSMO will still have jobs.