Gears of War has always been a popular franchise amongst Xbox 360 owners and that shows no sign of stopping any time soon if the recent number of pre-orders are anything to go by – over one million of them have been placed worldwide meaning Gears 3 is the fastest pre-ordered Xbox360 exclusive title to date.

Fuelling the drive for pre-orders has been the public multiplayer beta, which came to a close on the 15th May. Over 1.29 million fans across 145 countries took part ranking up some truly fascinating statistics:

1.29 million people participated in the beta

145 different countries participated in the beta

249 years’ worth of matches played

More than 11 million matches completed

More than 927 million kills recorded

More than 131 million executions performed

More than 23 million deaths by chainsaw

Nearly 23 BILLION bullets fired

460 million ribbons and 294 million medals earned

435 thousand people earned the beta exclusive Thrashball Cole skin to use in the retail game when it launches in September

234 thousand people earned the beta exclusive Gold Retro Lancer to use in the retail game when it launches in September

Epic Games’ Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski, said: “while the beta was a fun way to give players an early taste of our game, it also provided us with invaluable feedback to help us refine and polish ‘Gears of War 3’ to ensure it’s truly the culmination of the trilogy we promised to the fans,” before going on to label the beta “an overwhelming success.”

Gears of War 3 is out this September exclusively for Xbox 360.

Last five articles by GL News

• EA Announce The Sims 4: City Living Expansion
• PETA Crosses The Line with Farming Simulator 17
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Review
• Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments - Review
• ONE Ring