We’ve been getting so many multiplayer betas lately, you’ll have to forgive players when they think pre-release betas are basically the new demo versions of games. Gears of War 4, which is currently undergoing a beta test, is not a “pre-release demo”, developer Rod Fergusson has stressed.
Fergusson made his thoughts clear while speaking to MCV and reveals that Gears of War 4 developer The Coalition even considered labelling the beta as an ‘alpha’. While betas are used to pick off any bugs and glitches that the game might have before it releases, Fergusson believes that the community has come to think of the word ‘beta’ as meaning a ‘highly polished demo’. Here’s what he had to say:
“The industry has taken the word beta and twisted it to mean ‘pre-release demo. The community thinks they should be a highly polished demo. We are really focused on saying we’re pre-alpha right now. I even joked that we should call our beta an alpha just so people understand where we are and that we are actually looking for feedback and we’re actually testing systems.”
The Gears of War beta is currently on, having started on April 18th. It is currently only available to those who have purchased Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on either Windows 10 or Xbox One. On the 25th, it will be made open to everyone, and will run till May 1st.