Racing fans eager to try out the current-gen console version of The Crew will have the opportunity to begin doing so today. This is a real, technical beta, though, which means you shouldn't expect any of your progress to carry over to the full game.

Speaking with The Examiner about the beta, creative director Julian Gerighty was asked about whether you'll be able to take your beta accomplishments with you. "I don't think so, no, [progress won't be saved]," he responded.

The closed beta starting today is not the game's first. Like those previous betas, the purpose of this latest one is not merely to promote the game. "This is the thing, all of our betas so far have been technical betas," Gerighty said. "They are not marketing betas. They are not there for anything else except for learning how we can make the experience better when we launch."

With this not being the first beta for The Crew, Gerighty offered a friendly suggestion to those who have already spent a lot of time with the game: Don't burn yourself out. "I'd hate for people to do three betas and not have anything to look forward to in the final game," he said. "The game is good, don’t get me wrong and the last thing I want to do is send a message of 'do not play the console beta.' Please play it, but it's a technical beta and you shouldn't expect everything to be unlocked and transfer to the full game."

That wasn't the only reference he made to the fact that the beta is a limited slice of the game. He also stated, "There are lots of functions that probably won't be turned on." That's to be expected, of course, but the beta sounds fairly extensive. You can read our impressions of an earlier beta on PC here.

The Crew is an open-world racing game that lets you drive across a virtual version of the United States. It's headed to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox 360 (but not PlayStation 3) on November 11.