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Gears of War 3 = over 1 million pre-orders

by: John -
More On: Gears of War 3
So how many folks have pre-ordered Gears of War 3? That's one million and counting. It's the fastest pre-ordered Xbox exclusive title there is.

The game's set to launch September 20th and I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little excited to see the end of the trilogy. While the two games have their problems, like most game, I found the co-op experiences a lot of fun and I spent a ton of time in Horde mode in Gears 2.

Microsoft also announced that 1.29 million folks participated in the beta, which ended last Sunday.

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 20 September 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.

Helping propel “Gears of War 3” pre-orders worldwide, 1.29 million fans from more than 143 countries answered the call to join the “Gears of War 3” public multiplayer beta. Featuring three distinct gameplay modes across four news maps while running on dedicated servers for the first time, the multiplayer beta concluded on Sunday 15 May 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

460 million ribbons and 294 million medals earned

435 thousand people earned the beta exclusive Thrashball Cole skin to use in the retail game when it launches in September

234 thousand people earned the beta exclusive Gold Retro Lancer to use in the retail game when it launches in September

Gears of War 3 is out exclusively for Xbox 360 on September 20th.