According to this thread by LaBoule, the webmaster of Heroic Corner, Nival Interactive has announced a Heroes V play test for citizens of Moscow (the location of the company's headquarters) and the Moscow Region. Unfortunately, the content presented at the playtest is covered by a non-disclosure agreement.

Nival has been known to organize such play tests for its previous projects, like Evil Islands. According to a report about the Evil Islands play test by Alexey Sviridov, a developer from Nival, the main difference between a play test and a beta test is as follows: a beta test aims to find errors in the game's code, while a play test seeks errors in its DNA. More clearly speaking, the purpose of a play test is to find design mistakes and determine if the user interface is clear and intuitive enough and if the game in general meets the expectations of the mass consumers.

Despite the test's limited audience, it is still relieving that Nival does not forget about the public.