It’s a familiar tactic – pair up new IP with beta access to an upcoming blockbuster and watch said new IP fly off the shelves. It worked for Crackdown with Halo 3, and now it looks like it’ll work for Bulletstorm, with Epic promising that each copy purchased will provide users access to the upcoming Gears of War 3 beta.
“Epic is poised to break new ground in 2011 with Gears of War 3 and Bulletstorm,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. “With these two highly anticipated triple-A experiences comes a unique opportunity to do something to really excite players, and that’s what we intend to accomplish with the support of Microsoft Game Studios and EA. This is for the shooter fans.”
It’s a clever move, and we welcome it. It’s easy to be cynical about these things, but we’re hoping this sort of exercise will bring much needed attention to new titles such as Bulletstorm: a game that is geniunely trying to push the shooter genre in interesting new directions.
We have no idea when the Gear beta begins, but Bulletstorm is released February 24, and we’re really looking forward to what promises to be a fresh innovative take on an increasingly stagnant market.
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