Rumor: Gears of War 3 on track for April 2011 release @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on March 16, 2010

News: Of course, Microsoft has to announce it first.

The United Kingdom's favorite gaming magazine, Edge, recently received a tip that Gears of War 3 is on track for a April 2011 release.

Gears of War 2 was released in November of 2008 and, like its predecessor, sold in excess of five million copies. So the question was never "Will there be a Gears of War 3?" but when.

The tipster told Edge that Microsoft and Epic plan to unveil the first teaser trailer for the game next month and that a full reveal will take place at this year's E3 expo.

Apparently the game is progressing nicely, and could have been released in 2010, but Microsoft's desire to keep the focus on Halo: Reach and Project Natal made the April 2011 release a necessity.

"Microsoft's keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas. That's why we won't be seeing Gears Of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release,Ф said [Epic's] source.

Naturally, neither Microsoft nor Epic would comment on the rumor, but the tipster's logic seems sound. And I would wager good money that the official reveal of Gears of War 3 plays out exactly as they predicted.

We'll have more soon.