‘Gears of War 4’ beta starts with free and official merch announced, new bonus for Xbox One edition outed

Xbox One owners have the advantage of looking forward to the console exclusive title, “Gears of War 4.” Now among Xbox One owners, there’s another perk announced—a four-day early access.

Microsoft has confirmed that players who will be getting the “Gears of War 4” Ultimate Edition will get the bonus early access so they can play ahead of the pack. The official page for “Gears of War” on Xbox confirmed that Ultimate Edition holders can play it on Oct. 7, four days before the expected Oct. 11 release date.

The catch here is that players will have to pay US$99.99 for the Ultimate Edition bundle. It is the price to pay to be among the first to actually enjoy the game—and this may be a big deal to some players who do not want to see spoilers of “Gears of War 4.” Four days can bring a lot of YouTube play-by-plays and walkthroughs.

Of course, early access is not the only incentive that players can look forward to with “Gears of War 4” Ultimate Edition. It will also include some preorder bonuses and the Season Pass.

The Season Pass will include some digital items in the Vintage VIP Pack such as skins, emblems and extra XP. There’s also an additional DLC map ownership of 24 additional maps for private play on dedicated servers. Players can also enjoy early access to Playlist for previewing upcoming modes, maps and variants. The Season Pass will also include six Gear Packs to unlock character and weapon skins, abilities and XP boosting bounties, Polygon reported.

As a bonus, preordering the “Gears of War” Ultimate Edition will give the character pack as well as the exclusive Vintage Del character. The latter can be used in “Gears of War 4” multiplayer modes.

While the actual release date is still almost half a year away, fans who are participating in the beta run of “Gears of War 4” are already enjoying it. The beta run is for Xbox One players who have an Xbox Live Gold membership.

Microsoft has a small surprise for participants of the open beta. According to GameSpot, developer The Coalition has confirmed that participants will get a free dodgeball shirt for their respective Xbox Live avatars.

This refers to the new mode that can be played in “Gears of War 4.” “Gears of War” fans who want some merchandise for the latest game can also look forward to some that have just been officially announced. Main characters JD Fenix, Kait and Del will all have their respective seven-inch action figures launching sometime in fall.

In line with the Funko craze, there will also be some of these figures specifically from the “Gears of War 4” franchise. No specific release dates for any of these official merchandise have been announced yet.