On the heels of announcing a release date for Gears of War 3, Epic Games has revealed that the much-anticipated beta for the shooter will kick off in mid-April. This date lines up with previous projections from the studio about a potential Spring window release.
Details on what’ll be offered are still being worked out, but Major Nelson has said that the beta will include three competitive versus modes across four maps. In a hip twist, Epic is letting Gears of War fans choose two of these maps via a poll on the game’s Facebook page. The choice is between the following maps: Overpass, Old Town, Mercy, and Trenches.
Currently, the easiest way to get into this beta is via a copy of the "Epic Edition" of Epic’s latest shooter Bulletstorm, which includes a code. As has been noted previously, the Bulletstorm disc is required for entry into the beta, so you might want to hang on to that.
Gears of War 3 hits worldwide on September 20, 2011 on the Xbox 360.