G4BOX Inc and Wicked Interactive Ltd., North American publishers and distributors of interactive entertainment media, together announced today the open beta launch date of their free online military first-person shooter, Cross Fire. The Open beta will go live tomorrow, Friday, January 30, 2009 at 12 PM EST. In the open beta, anyone and everyone is invited to play the game for free, without any download or subscription fees. At 12 PM EST on January 29, 2009, the Cross Fire servers will go down in preparation for the open beta launch.

"We are very proud to be taking Cross Fire to the next level by launching the open beta," said Stanley Yu, Chief Executive Office of Wicked Interactive. "We have invested a tremendous amount of time and energy in bringing Cross Fire to this stage, in order to provide players with the best possible game experience," added Howard He, Chief Executive Officer of G4BOX, "The Cross Fire Open Beta will deliver a wealth of new features we know players will enjoy."

The open beta launch marks the beginning of Cross Fire's persistent military-ranking and stat-tracking features. Player-progress will be tracked from the open beta onward so that players may accurately gauge their skills against the rest of the Cross Fire community. The Cross Fire open beta will also introduce in-game friends lists and clan formation features, in addition to numerous new maps, weapons, and items.

To celebrate Cross Fire's open beta launch, Subagames is hosting a number of events and promotions. During the first week of open beta, players will enjoy a 50% increase in the amount of GP earned in-game. This will allow Cross Fire players to purchase more of the new open beta weapons and items. In addition, the first 30 clans to register during the open beta will do so for free, at absolutely no GP cost!