Gears of War 4 is going to be released later on this year and it’s ‘Ultimate Edition’ allows early access to the game. According to it’s listing on Xbox.com players who’ve purchased the Ultimate Edition will be able to play the game on October 7th, which means they’ll have a four day head start on their fellow gamers.
Along with early access, the ‘Ultimate Edition’ comes with the game’s season pass and additional playable characters. The season pass itself comes with a 24 of maps (two for each month of the year), character skins and access to the VIP playlist, plus much more. The full contents of the season pass is as follows:
“Five exclusive digital items as part of the Vintage VIP Pack, including the Vintage JD character skin, Vintage Gnasher and Dropshot weapon skins, Vintage JD Emblem and Vintage JD Bounty for extra XP; permanent DLC map ownership of over 24 additional maps (two per month for a year) for private play on dedicated servers; an exclusive VIP “Early Access” Playlist that grants a preview to upcoming modes, maps and variants; and six Gear Packs which unlock special character and weapon skins, equipment and abilities, and XP boosting bounties.”
Unlike many other early-access schemes, for example most coming in the way of pre-order bonuses, it seems that the only way to play Gears of War 4 before it’s release is to pay $99.99 for the ‘Ultimate Edition’. For more hardcore fans of the series there’s also a ‘Collectors Edition’ available, which includes the contents of the ‘Ultimate Edition’ as well as the addition of JD Fenix on a COG Bike statue, a frag grenade keychain, exclusive lithograph, premium packaging, and three Gear crates. This will set you back $250.
Gears of War 4 is set for release on October 11th exclusively for Xbox One. The ‘Ultimate Edition’ is available for $99.99 and the “Collectors Edition’ is available for $250.