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 Sept. 20, 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 humanitys final stand against the parasitic Lambent and savage Locust threats.

Consumer demand for Gears of War 3 has been incredible, said Bob McKenzie, Senior VP of Merchandising at GameStop. It is one of the few times in our history that weve seen a title hit this level of pre-order numbers four months out from launch, putting Gears of War 3 on track to be one of the years biggest blockbuster gaming hits.

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, May 15 with fans collectively logging more than 249 years worth of gameplay over Xbox LIVE.

An overwhelming success we cant 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 its 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:

1.29M 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

4.9B ribbons and 291M medals earned

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

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

Developed by acclaimed studio Epic Games, Gears of War 3 is available for preorder today in three distinct editions Standard ($59.99 USD), Limited ($79.99) and Epic ($149.99).