Gears of War 3 beta attracted 1.29 million testers

by James Ransom-Wiley on May 18th 2011 10:30AM

The cogs did their part, as 1.29 million fans enlisted in the recent Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta and pre-ordered the game in hordes. In all, Epic gathered 249 years worth of match-time data from players spanning 145 countries during the four-week public testing phase, which wrapped up this past Sunday. And it was all up and running, for the first time, on dedicated servers. (Oorah!)

While neither Microsoft nor Epic specified how many beta testers got in early through their "Epic Edition" copies of Bulletstorm, the pair was quite pleased to announce that Gears of War 3 has surpassed one million pre-orders (the other ticket into the beta) -- and we're still four months away from the game's September 20 launch. That's got to be some kind of record, right?

Uh-huh. Gears 3 now holds the distinguished honor of being "the fastest pre-ordered Xbox exclusive title to reach this milestone in the history of the platform." (*Golf clap*)

Pore over some more beta stats after the break.

Gears of War 3 beta stats:

1.29 million people participated in the beta
145 different countries participated in the beta
249 years worth of matches played
More than 11 million matches completed
More than 927 million kills recorded
More than 131 million executions performed
More than 23 million deaths by chainsaw
Nearly 23 BILLION bullets fired
4.9 billion ribbons and 291 million medals earned
435,000 people earned the beta-exclusive Thrashball Cole skin to use in the retail game when it launches in September
234,000 people earned the beta-exclusive Gold Retro Lancer to use in the retail game when it launches in September

Show full PR text

"Gears of War 3" Pre-orders Top One Million Units Worldwide; Fastest Pre-Ordered Title in Platform History
Public multiplayer beta enlists more than 1.29 million players, helping shape the biggest blockbuster of 2011

Microsoft and Epic Games today announced "Gears of War 3" surpassed one million worldwide pre-orders, making it the fastest pre-ordered Xbox exclusive title to reach this milestone in the history of the platform. Launching Sept. 20, 2011, "Gears of War 3" marks the conclusion of one of the most renowned sagas in video game history, and fans are already lining up to join Marcus Fenix and his fellow COG soldiers in humanity's final stand against the parasitic Lambent and savage Locust threats.

"Consumer demand for 'Gears of War 3' has been incredible," said Bob McKenzie, Senior VP of Merchandising at GameStop. "It is one of the few times in our history that we've seen a title hit this level of pre-order numbers four months out from launch, putting 'Gears of War 3' on track to be one of the year's biggest blockbuster gaming hits."

Helping propel "Gears of War 3" pre-orders worldwide, 1.29 million fans from 145 countries answered the call to join the "Gears of War 3" public multiplayer beta. Featuring three distinct gameplay modes across four new maps while running on dedicated servers for the first time, the multiplayer beta concluded on Sunday, May 15 with fans collectively logging more than 249 years worth of gameplay over Xbox LIVE.

"An overwhelming success – we can't thank the fans enough," said Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski. "While the beta was a fun way to give players an early taste of our game, it also provided us with invaluable feedback to help us refine and polish 'Gears of War 3' to ensure it's truly the culmination of the trilogy we promised to the fans."

Over the course of four weeks, fans played more than 11 million multiplayer matches, earning ribbons and medals, unlocking weapon skins and finishing off enemies with countless new execution moves, among other incredible feats:

1.29 million people participated in the beta
145 different countries participated in the beta
249 years worth of matches played
More than 11 million matches completed
More than 927 million kills recorded
More than 131 million executions performed
More than 23 million deaths by chainsaw
Nearly 23 BILLION bullets fired
4.9 billion ribbons and 291 million medals earned
435,000 people earned the beta-exclusive Thrashball Cole skin to use in the retail game when it launches in September
234,000 people earned the beta-exclusive Gold Retro Lancer to use in the retail game when it launches in September

Developed by acclaimed studio Epic Games, "Gears of War 3" is available for pre-order today in three distinct editions – Standard ($59.99 USD), Limited ($79.99) and Epic ($149.99). For additional details on the game and the beta, please visit gearsofwar.xbox.com.

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Tags: beta, epic, epic-games, gears-of-war-3, microsoft, microsoft-game-studios, pre-order, stats, xbox, xbox-live

Reader Comments (54)

I'm one in 234,000, am I special now?

@jameskond

me too!! but i can't believe just a few get this...

@jameskond ME TOO!!!!!!!!!! We are so LEET!!!

In all seriousness I didn't expect to be in such an exclusive club. I expected half of beta players unlocking both...

@jameskond
Yes we are awesome and all shall forever bow before our golden lancers.

@jameskond
Got my golden retro lancer retail unlock just two hours or so before the beta came to a complete end. Man oh man was I stressing about being able to get that, especially since I kind of suck at this game. I must say, though, that it was an absolute blast, and the game's definitely shot up from "somewhat interested" to "must buy."

Great game cant wait !

The beta was a lot of fun.
I think I played it more than Gears 2 actually.
Having a goal to get Cole and the Gold Lancer also helped.

@Jawmuncher Same here, the drive to get those two unlockables kept me into playing the beta despite peer pressure from some friends to play old staples like Bad Company, Black Ops or Reach.

@Jawmuncher

Missed out on the Retro Lancer myself, unlocked it but only got 7 kills towards keeping it. :( Oh well, I found out how much better I am with the Hammerburst this time around (hell yes iron sights!)

@Jawmuncher
I also played for the unlocks. Meanwhile, i played Halo Reach beta exactly 2 times. It's no fun when you get no reward.

@Jawmuncher the beta was so much fun and yes, the unlocks were indeed awesome! I would like to see more of that in the future. We are going to keep the stats we earned correct?

@The Wicker Man what are you talking about i thought that the Reach beta testers got a AWESOME AVATAR SHIRT...oh wait you mean a reward you would actualy want...yeah

I certainly enjoyed it. I was also one of the people who unlocked Thrashball Cole and the Gold Retro Lancer. Pretty fantastic gameplay for a beta. Then again, I could just be easier to impress due to the horrible experiences I had in Gears 2 muliplayer, which I still managed to enjoy, but the lack of dedicated servers was practically a game breaker.

I was pleasantly surprised by the beta, I'm not a fan of Gears competative multiplayer because of it's slow pace when it comes to death, but the fact that they allowed respawning and the weapon selection was pretty tight and diverse enough to warrent different strategies, I came out fully looking forward to the retail release and getting back into the multiplayer.

I wonder what changes they'll do in response to the beta, I know there will be some minor tweaks to weapon damage, but they've been mum on it, at least publicly.

Only managed 36 matches in 4 weeks, far too much of a grind,Only played those through wanting the Cole skin, then I figured I wouldn't use it.. and went play something else - I only ever play Horde when I play Gears 2 online

Though I LOVED this Beta immensely I did have issues. But thats the point of a beta, right?

*Kill stealing

*Gnasher range too large

*Sawed Off Shotty range too large

*Character movement/changing directions needs refining

*Character walking speed needs a tiny increase to be perfect

*Hammer of Dawn on Trenches = Baaaaaad

*Oneshot disappearing after you drop it needs to be fixed.

*Grenade blast radius too large

*Meatshield needs to add a tiny increase in protection

*Spawning wasn't that bad IMO but there were some bad spawns with enemies right by me.

*Flaming weapons - Really? This is not realistic (yeah yeah I know) at all. Sorry. A flame paint job would be better.

Honestly though, even if these issues weren't addressed it would STILL be better than Gears1 and 2 and most MP games out there. =) The shear amount of creativity in this game is awesome. I love so many things they added to the game.

Dedicated servers in Gears makes this game so much better! TDM here was done great. Kudos for that. The sawed off, retro Lancer, lancer charge, gun skinning, new executions, medals, digger launcher, spotting, character speed, Oneshot are all awesome additions. The lighting engine is far above anything Ive seen in any console game including Crysis 2. The new motion blur techniques, the ink, smoke and incendiary grenade effects are gorgeous. Just and overall beautiful to look at and fun to play experience. I'm seriously experiencing withdrawls. =P

Check this out for Gears 3 beat visuals, great read. Great Blog.
http://imagequalitymatters.blogspot.com/2011/05/tech-analysis-gears-of-war-3-beta.html

@xFenixKnightx

*Retro Lancer charge should be able to be stunned by a shotgun blast

*Mantle kick stun time needs to be shortened

*Hammer of Dawn should have far more limited ammo or a much longer cooldown time

*Default pistol needs to not be completely worthless

So, where do we actually submit these? Is there a website or something?

@baby sea tuna

http://forums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=400

See I had no problem with the mantle kick. You just need to be fast enough to be the one to jump over or not get in cover right on the other side of someone. =) I blasted people away when they were trying to charge at me all the time with both shotguns. Pistol IS worthless now, definitely. It was useful in GOW2. Hammer of Dawn does need reworking and should not be on Trenches at all.

@xFenixKnightx

Kill Stealing? Never gonna be fixed, they have added assist p[oints to try and balance this out.

Gnasher range too large? Not large enough based upon the impact of SOS on the close range game.

SOS range too large? Agreed, they really need to figure out how to balance this better, I still don't believe the limited clip and reload time is the full solution.

Character movement seems better than ever, though admitadly can always be improved on.

Hammer of Dawn ruins trenches, I totally agree.

Oneshot rightfully disappears, its way too easy to use and get guaranteed kills so needs this to prevent it from being a guaranteed 3 kill weapon.

grenade blast radius being large makes it more exciting considering the delayed explosion time, with skill they are still easy to avoid.

totally agree with you about meatshield protection, in the beta having a meatshield felt like a hinderance

Spawning was an issue for me, but I think it is just impossible to avoid and as you say, wasnt that big of a deal.

As you point out though, the beta kicked the ass of gears 1 and 2 MP, and thank god for dedicated servers. i for one cant wait for my epic edition to arrive come september.

Great work Epic, but please, just one more week of the beta. Im already suffering from withdrawal.

@(Unverified)

Yeah Kill stealling really annoyed me. Im sure it wont be as bad on another mode like say, Execution since there wont be constant respawns of other teammates. Still, I hated trying to set up a sweet execution (holding Y while the enemy is down and crawling) only to have someone spray 2 bullets from afar and steal it.

I dont see the Oneshot as guaranteed kills. Only reason I'm saying it, I think throughout the whole beta I only got killed by it about 3 times. Not that hard to avoid and I missed people quite a bit as well.

I like the delay on the nades now but still. You think you did enough to get away and [insert fart noise here] splat.

The character movement speed was improved greatly over Gears 2, but I just feel like a teeny tiny little bity increase lol in walking speed would be just right.

Gnasher can damage you from too far away, all Im saying.

Still like I said I hope they dont do too many changes because even if it shipped as it was Its still awesome.

@xFenixKnightx
I don't think execution is going to be a mode in 3.
Also, I had some problems with grenades exploding, I'd have an enemy in between me and a planted grenade and it'd kill me and not him. Maybe it was lag, who knows?

@SuperWoody64

Epic confirmed Execution and Warzone will be back. They just wanted us to try the new modes.

@xFenixKnightx

Kill stealing? LMAO!

@xFenixKnightx

Honestly, I had no problems with the kill stealing. The way most of my matches played out, it's was more important to just down and kill as fast as possible, regardless of who gets the credit. When you start playing as a team it gets to the point where kills don't matter, I would still get a bunch of downs and revives and finish off my teammate's kills.

I have to say the assist system is great too. You get points for any bit of damage you put on an enemy when they die

The retro charge is fine the way it is, you just need to work on your timing against it. Also try using a lancer against it, instead of a shotgun, it slows them down more.

Personally I'm glad they increased the range on the gnasher. Helps the shotguns stand apart a bit better.

Agree about the primary pistol being too weak.

Ambivalent about the Hammer on Trenches. I think the mortar is still more powerful, you can rain down on the spawn areas. Can't do that with the Hammer.

@Riley Freeman

K/D ratio is not a laughing matter, guy. O_O

=P

@WiredKnight

Honestly killstealing wasnt a HUGE problem for me. Like you said, most important was killing the other team asap. But still, it was rampant and I have noticed this being a lot of other Gearheads gripe as well.

@xFenixKnightx

It is when you play for fun ;)

I'm not much of a multiplayer kind of guy, but I found myself playing a good bit of it while waiting for LA Noire, and it left me eager for the retail release.

I couldn't really get into the beta.. I'm sure the game will be great, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I hate you epic, I had like 3 different codes and they were all useless since you restricted the beta to Guatemala.

FU.

sincerely: a Gears of War 1 FAN.

I really wanted to try it. I'll play it in due time though, and it will will be glorious. Some may even say it would be...epic.

GameStop is listing almost 700,000 reservations already. This will probably surpass CODBLOPS if it keeps this pace and make a pretty good payday for the 800 # gorilla.....let the hate begin lol

Here's hoping for a no-shotgun playlist. Seriously.

@The Pork THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME IDEAS FOR GOW3 YET

First time I played a Gears...not bad. But hopefully they fix the overpowered Sawed-Off. It's incredible how your pumping someone full of holes and yet they still cone up to your face and blow it up. :/

Loved the beta.
Can't wait to play it in september.

Great beta, cant wait for September!

I played gears 1 for two years straight. I just couldn't get enough of it. Loved the original harmmerburst. Didn't like the like the major changes in gears 2. Couldn't get into it no matter what. Even bought it twice, after someone stole it from me. Disliked the weak shotgun, the slow movement, the vacuum chainsaw, the lag, the smoke grenades with no smoke, the smoke grenades knocking you down, the whole sticking grenades on walls, the terrible matchmaking, the not being able to shoot or melee after roadie run(really?), the not being able to blind fire cause you shoot the ground, the melee not stunning on hit, and many other things.

So, does it play more like gears 1 or 2? If it's more like 2, then I won't be buying. No need in spending $125 (game+live) on a game I'm going to dislike. If it's more like gears 1, then I'll gladly pick it up. DAY ONE!

@berval

*Ahem

...

Its better than Gears 1.

...

Yes, you heard that right. Better than Gears 1. Take it from a veteran and someone who feels just like you about GOW2. BUY THIS GAME!

@berval
Way better then gears 2, but not nearly as good as Gears 1. Its really bad how drastically they dumbed down the game to appeal to the masses and all the dopey COD players out there. The retro lancer is insanely OP you can easily beat someone with a gnasher just by spraying it at close range, you can down someone with the thing in roughly 2 seconds maybe less. Then the sawed off is the gnasher for dummies, and is far more effective when you don't aim it. It's quite sad what this series has come to mainly because of the popularity of COD.

@BlackendO1

Exactly! The game has just dumbed down and changed so much that I'm afraid it's not going to be the same game I enjoyed so much five years ago.
At least CoD pretty much sticks with the same formula. Why? Because it's fun and people like it. Ahhhh!... I don't know. I'll just get it on ebay a few weeks after it comes out and if don't like it, I'll just sell it back and go back to gears 1.

@xFenixKnightx
I want to believe. I really do.

The stats shows I've unlocked the flame hammerburst rifle, but it's still locked when I tried to select it!

Will that carry over to the retail?

Can this be factored out by?

-Total of beta users from the Bulltestorm code.
-Total of beta users from the Gamestop used code.
-Total of beta users from given away code.

I would love to see this.

@DiscoStick J81
I have Bulletstorm, I pre-ordered and I got an early code from expertzone. How would they classify me?

@SuperWoody64 Awesome?

The beta had some issues, but I enjoyed it much more than Gears 2 multiplayer. It feels significantly less broken now.

This take me back when the beta started and the first SOS kill I was on a rampage everything else was all right but I was never killed by that score board on that thrashball map

No not really only the thrashball cole and golden retro lancer only carry over on the fully bought game

They really need to shorten the range of the gnasher! I hate when u are blasting someone with a lancer dead on from two car lengths and yet they can fire there shotgun twice and put u down! Fix this please. After this happened a couple rounds I found myself never using any of the assault rifles and I did way better just walking around with a shot gun. Maybe minus the amount of hits it takes with a lancer to get someone down? Please do something!

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Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3 beta attracted 1.29 million testers

Reader Comments (54)

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:38AM jameskond said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:51AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 18th 2011 12:38PM dragunrising said

Posted: May 18th 2011 12:52PM fohf said

Posted: May 18th 2011 3:03PM darkinchworm said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:38AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:38AM Jawmuncher said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:47AM Ryguy226 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:53AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:33PM SuperWoody64 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:53PM The Wicker Man said

Posted: May 20th 2011 5:43PM possdoom said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:40AM Iron Man said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:45AM Ryguy226 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:49AM Mazrael said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:54AM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:06AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:14AM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:32AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:58AM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:37PM SuperWoody64 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:56PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 3:19PM Riley Freeman said

Posted: May 18th 2011 4:11PM WiredKnight said

Posted: May 18th 2011 4:41PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 4:47PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 5:46PM Riley Freeman said

Posted: May 18th 2011 10:54AM The Tim said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:00AM JakeAuditore said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:26AM cleopatrudo said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:28AM MGTrey said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:45AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 18th 2011 11:50AM The Pork said

Posted: May 20th 2011 5:51PM possdoom said

Posted: May 18th 2011 12:45PM religiousjedi said

Posted: May 18th 2011 12:53PM Sc4rfac3 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 1:11PM Sgt Barone said

Posted: May 18th 2011 1:36PM berval said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:37PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: May 18th 2011 5:52PM BlackendO1 said

Posted: May 20th 2011 3:12PM berval said

Posted: May 20th 2011 3:13PM berval said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:21PM clawbytes said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:28PM DiscoStick J81 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:38PM SuperWoody64 said

Posted: May 18th 2011 3:00PM shankythestabber said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:31PM Perfidious Sinn said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:38PM DJshadow1 said

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Posted: May 18th 2011 2:53PM trunas said

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