Note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of WRAL Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.
CARY, N.C. – Epic Games has another smash hit on its hands with “Gears of War 3.”
Some one million people have already ordered the game, which doesn’t go on sale until September. However, a free beta version offered over the past month drew well over 1 million sales, and apparently a lot of gamers loved the shoot-em-up action that produced some 12 million sales for the first two tales in the Man Vs. Locust Horde throwdown.
According to Microsoft, which is the game’s publisher, Gears 3 has already topped some popular “Halo” titles in pre-release sales.
Epic design mastermind Cliff Bleszinki says Gears 3 is already an “an overwhelming success.”
“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,” he added.
Veteran gamer Ryan Smith, our reviewer of the beta, agreed with that. He’s eager to pay full price for the complete game as soon as available. Read his review here.
“Consumer demand for Gears of War 3 has been incredible,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president for merchandising at big videogame retailer GameStop, in a statement released by Epic.
“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 3 on track to be one of the year’s biggest blockbuster gaming hits.”
For more about the game, read here.
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