Gears of War 4 Beta Release Date Tips

The early Gears of War 4 beta release date for Xbox One is here and we want to share a few tips to help you get through the roll out and into the action.

The Xbox One Gears of War 4 release date is confirmed for October but you’ll be able to play a part of the game before that.

The Coalition is hosting a Gears of War 4 beta to help stress test the multiplayer portion of the game well ahead of its launch on October 11th. The game’s beta is limited right now but it will open up later on this month.

Today is the early Gears of War 4 beta release for Gears of War Ultimate Edition players. Early access will end on April 24th at which point the developer will open up the Xbox One Gears of War 4 beta for everyone to play.

Now that the Gears of War 4 beta has arrived we want to share a few tips to help you get the beta successfully downloaded and installed on your Xbox One.

Gears of War 4 Beta Release Time

Starting today, The Coalition will be sending out beta tokens via the Xbox Live messaging service. While many of those who played Gears of War Ultimate Edition before April 12th will get a code today, some may not.

That said, the developer says that it will be “sending out codes to users who played Gears of War: Ultimate Edition in chronological order from the date they first played.”

So, if you played Gears of War Ultimate Edition when it first came out, you should be first in line. If you played it on April 11th, you’ll be near the back so remain patient.

The Coalition says that “code waves will increase in size after the first day and stay consistent for each day after that.” Their goal is to get codes out to everyone by end of day Thursday. So, again, you’ll need to stay patient.

If you didn’t get early access, you’ll get to play Gears of War 4 beta starting April 25th. When it arrives it will be available as a free download from the Xbox Marketplace.

The Coalition hasn’t said what time it will unlock the open beta so stay tuned for those details.

Clean Up Your Hard Drive

The Gears of War 4 beta for Xbox One requires a huge chunk of space on your hard drive. If you’re nearing the threshold, now would be a good time to do some cleanup.

According to testers, the download size is 7GB. For those of you with 1+ terabyte hard drives, this isn’t a big deal. For those of you relying on internal storage, this could be an issue.

If you’re planning to play the beta as soon as you get your token and you’re running out of space on your Xbox One, start getting rid of files you no longer need.

How to Redeem a Gears of War 4 Beta Code

Once you get your token, you’ll need to redeem it to unlock the Gears of Wars 4 beta. Here is how you’ll do that on the Xbox One:

Xbox One

• Turn on your Xbox One.
• Sign into your Xbox Live account. Make sure you’re using the same account that you qualified for the Early Access period with.
• On the Home screen, double tap the [Xbox Guide] button, or move your [Left Analog Stick] to the [Left].
• Go to the Messages area of the Xbox Guide (this is the third icon down in the Guide).
• Look for a message sent by the Xbox Live team.
• Select ‘Redeem Code’ on the message from the Xbox Live Team.
• Select ‘Confirm’ to start downloading.

You can also redeem your token on Xbox.com if you wish. Here’s how to do that:

• Go to www.xbox.com.
• Sign into your account. Use the same account that you qualified for the Early Access period with.
• Hover over “My Account” to bring up the drop-down menu
• Select “Messages.”
• Look for a message sent by Xbox Live.
• Select “Redeem Code” from within your message.
• Select “Confirm” to start downloading.
• You have now successfully downloaded the Beta game onto your console.

Again, if you aren’t a part of the early beta, you won’t need a code. You’ll find the Gears of War 4 beta on April 25th searching Xbox.com or the Xbox One Marketplace.

Watch This Video

To celebrate the release of the Gears of War 4 beta, The Coalition’s put together a guide to some of the game’s core mechanics.

Old school Gears of War players will be familiar with a lot of these including the timed reloading. But if you’re new to the Gears series, these will help you get comfortable before you start playing.

We also recommend taking a look at this long list of things in, and not in, the Gears of War 4 beta before you jump in. That way, you’ll know what to expect.

Gears of War 4 Beta Problems

This is a beta so there will be problems. In fact, we’re already starting to hear about some of the Gears of War 4 beta problems plaguing testers.

If the Gears of War 4 beta download isn’t showing up, try going to ‘My Games and Apps’, and scrolling to the far right of the screen.

There you should find a list of downloads for games that you own. Do a search for the Gears of War 4 Beta in this area. When it pops up, select install.

If your Xbox One is far away from your router, now might be a good time to plug an ethernet cord into the back of it.

This is a huge download and wired connections are typically more reliable than wireless ones. If you encounter a slow download, this is the first thing to try.

If and when you encounter a problem or bug, you’ll want to let The Coalition know about it. There are a few ways to do that.

You can submit feedback via this online form. You can join the Gears Feedback program. Or you can simply post on the Gears of War 4 forum.

This beta is designed to help improve the final version of Gears of War 4 so the more feedback you provide the better.

Gears Of War 4 Beta Release Date

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If you didn't buy and play Gears of War Ultimate Edition in time, you'll still be able to play the Gears of War 4 beta, you'll just have to wait a few more days for the Gears of War 4 beta to open up to the public. Early Gears of War 4 beta access ends on April 24th at which point the companies will open up the Gears of War 4 beta to everyone.  All qualifying Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox One will be able to play the game until the beta ends on May 1st.  Look for additional details to emerge closer to the open beta.

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