The Gears of War 4 release date has been brought forward

“Gears of War” fans would be glad to know that they won’t be waiting too long for the highly-anticipated game, which was originally slated to be released this holiday season, as per the official announcement at E3 last summer.

Gears of War 4 will now launch in “Fall, 2016” which is ahead of its original “Holiday, 2016” release window. Access to the beta however is limited to those who purchased the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, though there’s always a possibility that the game will receive an open beta before it all comes to an end.

According to Cinema Blend, there is still no exact date from the game’s developer, The Coalition, on when the multiplayer beta will be, but it noted that it could be prior or after the “Uncharted 4” release.

“Some gamers worry that due to the dearth of information surrounding the newest Gears of War and the nearly non-existent hype for the title following its E3 reveal, that the game may slip into 2017 for further polish”, noted Cinema Blend.

The problem for Microsoft was that Epic Games stopped doing Gears of War titles after their third iteration, which was launched all the way back in 2011.

The new release window could easily put Gears of War 4 into the months of August or September, which have proved suitable for some top-tier AAA titles in recent years. The studio is fairly new, and it has never developed a full game before, though it did work on Gears of War: Ultimate Edition with Epic Games. This is through the beta that’s available for those who bought the “Gears of War Ultimate Edition”.

Microsoft stated, “45% of the Ultimate Edition players are new to the franchise”.