In all of the threads about people who have bought the game, there are tons of questions asking if the preorder characters are available for multiplayer. No they are not. they are only available in Escalation mode, a Survival mode that involves you fighting wave after wave of enemys with your friends. i hope this has made everything clear.
Oh and because I see this asked a lot...for some stupid reason... Preorder exclusive characters are just that, exclusive to preorders for a certain retailer. There is a chance they may become DLC later on, but NO you cannot just unlock them through normal play, they are downloads for people that preordered the game.
I think the biggest question people keep asking isn't about the exclusive characters so much but If some of those characters' body style are available. Like jazz, who's recolored chassis was seen featured in different videos advertising competitive multiplayer That's what I'm most curious about anyways Either hes in there like the videos advertise or not. Which is it