Ubisoft announced yesterday that a new playtest phase for Codename: Rook opens to everyone on November 19 through The Player Council, and players can pre-register now. Check out the official post down below:
The image attached to the announcement says "Join the battle Nov 19 - Dec 4," which gives the playtest a window of a little over 2 weeks. Ubisoft has not yet listed the new phase on The Player Council's calendar, and the Rook page on the site still describes the earlier closed beta, so the exact start time is not confirmed yet.
A Battlefield Built On A Chessboard
The new image shows a desert battlefield laid out as a grid of light and dark squares, with 2 armies of pieces facing each other on round bases. The blue side has a mounted knight carrying a banner, a block of armored infantry and an archer firing from a chariot, while the red side has its own riders and a robed figure. Each base carries a chess knight icon, and one square in the middle is marked with a glowing orange "Weapon" tile.
Behind the board, much larger armies stand in formation under red banners, with watchtowers, campfires and dead trees scattered across the sand.
Ubisoft has described Codename Rook as "a single-player strategy experience, built around tactical decision-making, planning, and calculated play." The company says it is "focused on strategic gameplay that rewards choices and adaptability." The Player Council's own tagline for the game is shorter: "Strategize, adapt, dominate."
What The Player Council Is
The Player Council is the platform Ubisoft soft-launched on PC at Gamescom 2026, built so players can test games in development and send feedback straight to the teams making them. Registration is free at playercouncil.gg and requires agreeing to an NDA, since many projects are at very early stages. The site is open to players over 18, and there is no cost to test prototypes like Rook.
Rook was 1 of 4 projects available at launch, alongside Codename Split Point, Riders Republic and Atomega. At that point, Ubisoft said Rook was at the concept stage and that players would be "among the first to test its core gameplay loop," with their feedback helping the team refine it. Split Point, the other prototype in that first group, is a 1v1 PvP tactical turn-based concept, which makes Rook the single-player strategy option on the platform.
Members move through 3 access tiers as they contribute. Everyone starts as a Member, and active, useful feedback can open up the Insider and Shaper tiers, which come with earlier builds and more sensitive projects. Ubisoft also said Codename Decagon, a co-op physics action game, and Codename Harlequin, a co-op open-world survival shooter, would join the platform later in the fall.
Other Ubisoft Tests Right Now
Rook is not the only Player Council test running this month. An Atomega playtest for the shooter's new team modes is open from November 5 to November 17, which means it will wrap up just before Rook's new phase begins. Atomega first came out in 2017, and its team recently announced the game's first new updates in 9 years. Testing live games like Atomega and Riders Republic requires owning them.
Footage of another unreleased Ubisoft project leaked recently, as covered in Assassin's Creed Leaked Prototype Footage Reveals A Canceled Mainline Game Set In China.
Will you be signing up for the Codename: Rook playtest, and would you want Ubisoft to turn it into a full strategy game?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.