For the last few months, LightBox has been running a private beta for Starhawk, which just concluded on January 3. Like a big bouncer guarding the door of your city's hot new club, the developer barred entry to all Joe and Jane Schmoes looking to get their taste of what's to come. Boys and girls, soon you'll have your chance: the beta's going public.

PlayStation Plus subscribers get first crack at the public demo starting next week: January 17 for the US and January 18 for Europe, PlayStation Blog reports. If you picked up Uncharted 3, you'll get a crack at the public beta two weeks later: January 31 in the US and February 1 in Europe. Finally, if you've got a regular ol' free PSN account, you can jump in on February 21, when the beta is open to all US users; European users get in on the following day.

If you were one of the lucky few to get into the private beta, you'll have access to the public beta starting next week, granted you didn't erase your original beta files. If you did, you'll have to wait until the appropriate time -- or we guess you could just sign up for PlayStation Plus.