Codemasters has officially announced "F1 2017" as this year's iteration of the racing game series based on Formula 1 season. It is estimated to launch around August or September, just like its predecessor game, "F1 2016".

Now that "F1 2017" is only several months away from official release, the game developer has also cpnfirmed that it has now scheduled an open beta to take place in March. This will be in time for the 2017 Formula One World Championship that will commence next month.

The beta tests will be limited to a total of 900 participants, with 300 gamers coming from each of the gaming platforms, Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Codemasters did not delve into details on how the 900 testers will be chosen.

The open beta is said to introduce the "new handling model" and other game additions that players will experience at this beta stage of the game. Then, they can give their feedback and suggestions that will further improve the gameplay experience.

The beta serves as a mechanism for developer to hear from a set of players before launching any title. It can further assure itself to deliver an IP that satifies the players' wishlist from the game.

In its official blog, Codemasters recall how the beta ran for F1 2016 last year had helped to smoothen out some rough edges prior to its launch in August 2016. It went on to say that the development team have been focused on the next entry of the series. Players can expect to see some awesome game addition to "F1 2017".

More on its open beta, the testing for "F1 2017" for PS4 will only be done in Europe while it will be available to everyone around the world for PC and Xbox One. Those who are up to join the test can sign up via this link.

"F1 2017" will hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC as well as mobile devices and TVOS around August or September 2017.