Yep. It will be the start of the external Alpha. Only the Elite Founders will be able to download it. We haven't been told yet when the Beta will start.

Known plans:

• Elite Founders will be able to download in late March
• Founders will get access to the beta when it is released later this year

Speculation:

• Elite Founders star names will need to be complete before the beta goes live
• All Beta(s) may be pushed through Steam
• Beta access will be generally available when the "pre-oder" becomes available Steam

My guess is beta would start no sooner than half a year after alpha, maybe even longer.  I think Stardock learned its lesson with War of Magic on rushing things.  I seem to recall the beta for WoM lasted a long time as well ... I was an early adopter of WoM so I got all the perks when Brad took his hat in hand to all of us.  Lots of developers/publishers push out bad releases, but so few have the decency to make it right.

If the alpha is not available until March 27th/28th, is not the store misleading?

• ALPHA ACCESS

  Play Galactic Civilizations III now

Talking about misleading the internet has been allowing galactic civilizations 3 both the game and the beta since 2010. The forums were telling me that these were lies.

For some reason I thought the Alpha was releasing the same time the Founders Edition expired, meaning early March.

Damn I just purchased the Founders Elite hoping to play then see it's not till end of the month.

Oh well..

Er...this is embarrassing, but how can you tell just what kind of "founder" you are? I threw money at SD for GC3 so long ago I completely forgot what I paid for it.

They're definitely prepping for the alpha release soon on Steam.

https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products

go to your download at their store and if the word elite is in it then you have the alpha

is it possible that some of the standard founders will get access to alpha as well? obviously not in the beginning, but for instance if not as many people purchased the elite founders package as expected?

i'm borrowing galciv2 ultimate from my buddy and loving it. so i'm ok with waiting for beta. kinda... LOL never played galciv2 before. only sins of a solar empire. i like galciv2 much more! but i keep comparing it to BOTF though... lol both great games!

Big thanks to you both: Looks like I'll be able to download it later this month. That will be nice: March 27th just happens to be my birthday...

I would post a screenshot but ya, when I sign into the star dock site.. it says

Galactic Civilizations III: Founder's Elite Edition

Just became an Elite founder. I can't wait for the Alpha to begin.