Bulletstorm 'Epic Edition' Offers Gears 3 Early Beta Access

In an interesting cross-promotional initiative, Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios are partnering on an "Epic Edition" for upcoming Bulletstorm, Epic and People Can Fly's upcoming shooter to be published by EA. Included in the Bulletstorm Epic Edition is guaranteed early access to the public beta for highly-anticipated Gears of War 3 "while supplies last", according to EA. The beta access comes in addition to other Bulletstorm bonus content in the special addition, including experience points, upgrades and armor. The Bulletstorm Epic Edition will launch on February 22, 2011, although customers can pre-order now. As for Gears of War 3, it was originally slated to launch in April, although it recently received a delay until Fall of next year in a "business decision between partners". But Gears 3 will hold its multiplayer open beta in early 2011, having announced dedicated servers for the beta already. It's the first time Epic has ever held a public testing phase for any Gears of War title, and the game will feature the publisher-run servers for ranked and social matchmaking games. The aim is to eliminate the problem whereby some server hosts receive an advantage in matches.