The developers at The Coalition and publisher Microsoft are announcing that they want to launch the official beta for Gears of War 4 on April 18 for all those players who have played the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition release on either the Xbox One or the Windows 10 PC.



According to the official announcement on the blog of Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, the main community liaison for the publisher and platform holder, the plan is to launch tokens for access to qualifying gamers in waves.
On April 24, this initial beta access stage for Gears of War 4 will end, and all qualifying Xbox Live Gold members will be able to test the game, and they will have full access to the beta's content until May 1.
Major Nelson adds, "In addition, we’re extending the timeframe for Gears of War: Ultimate Edition players to qualify for early access to the Gears of War 4 beta from March 1 to April 11. To qualify, just log on to Xbox Live and play Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox One or Windows 10 by 11 p.m. PDT, April 11."
The Coalition plans to use the coming eSports ESL Pro League Season 2 finals for Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, which will be live from PAX East on Saturday, April 23, to show off a new game mode for the coming installment in the series.
Multiplayer is important for the long-term future of Gears of War 4 A special panel linked to the new title will also take place on Sunday, April 24, under the name The Out of the Shadows: Inside Gears of War Multiplayer, and it seems that gamers who tune in will be able to learn more about the way The Coalition is tweaking the various modes and mechanics for the game.
During PAX East visitors will also be able to play Gears of War 4 multiplayer inside the Xbox booth.
For now the developers are not ready to talk about the kinds of content that will be featured in the beta.
Gears of War 4 is expected to arrive before the end of the year only on the Xbox One.
The single-player story will focus on the son of Marcus Fenix and his companions as they discover The Swarm, a powerful new threat on Sera, which can only be dealt with using the classic third-person shooter mechanics of the franchise and some new concepts.