This week, Cliff Blizinski finally confirmed that Gears of War 3 is in development on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The final chapter of the Gears of War trilogy will have plenty of new features such as four player co-op, new weapons like the double barrel shotgun, and new playable characters including female soliders. This game will surely be just as if not more epic than the first two games but none of the new features listed above are the reasons Gears of War 3 will most likely outsell its predecessors.
The big reason the game will succeed is not just about what's in it. In the case of Gears of War 3 it might just be when the world gets to play it. Microsoft has confirmed the game will release in North America on April 5, 2011 and will be in all other major territories by April 8, 2011. The first two Gears of War games released during the Holiday season. The first Gears game in 2006 was Microsoft's "killer app" for Xbox 360 at the time. It had to stand tall against the launches of Playstation 3 and Wii. The second game had to compete in the 2008 holiday season where incredible games such as Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Rock Band 2, and a handful of others were released. Both Gears of War titles sold well with the first game selling over three million copies and the second selling four million units. These truly are great statistics but how will Gears of War 3 stack up?
Who will Gears 3 be competing with when it launches? As of now, it could be nobody too special. Many more gamers have been exposed to the Gears of War franchise with novels, comic books, and a possible movie from New Line Cinemas all being produced. When April rolls around, gamers may not have to think about which games to buy if Gears stands as the only choice. Some great games will probably come out in Spring 2011 but most companies wait for the Holiday season to unleash the big guns.
With Halo Reach, Fable III and Project Natal, Microsoft's holiday 2010 lineup is already overflowing with awesome and very few games will be able to compete for the cash of the consumer. If Epic Games and Microsoft take the initiative to start advertising for Gears 3 during the Holiday season, they may see more people rationing their gift cards for the April launch. Since Epic Games has had plenty of opportunities to make the Gears of War experience better, the final chapter will most likely stand out as one of the pinnacle moments in this generation of consoles. The April release will add to its success with more players committing to the single player and online experiences rather than to keep swapping it out for another game that released within weeks of it.
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