Gears of War Beta Day is now official, and reactions range from excitement, outrage at the act of waiting for the release date, and actual confusion. The official Twitter account for the series posted a chillingly simple message filled with hype-the tweet literally read, “Shit yeah. Welcome to Beta Day 🫡.” If one bothers to look at a plethora of opinion tweets, it would tell a much messier story.
The good news is: There are plenty of people who are just really excited about the event. One of them, TruePrav, tweeted, “Mann cant wait to get home and play this.” JHawkShoots basically yelled it out loud: “SEE YOU AT GRIDLOCK.” Another player, CasperTopSecret, bragged that his access was for free, courtesy of Xbox. For each interested guy that just can brag about, there is at least one who undergoes rejections trying to get in.
Codes, or rather, the scarcity of them seem to be a big issue. Many players owning the Ultimate Edition claim they have never received their respective beta codes. DestroWod gave vent to his frustration on Twitter: “I bough UE on day 1 yet i got no code and i can’t play the beta.” Another player, Redzod, said, “How am I going to play if you didn’t send me the code?.” Then there is TBones2993, who has Game Pass basically telling that they have not yet gotten their UE code despite having supported since launch.
Then there is Game Pass confusion. Some players thought automatic access was their due, huge nope, unless you have the right subscription. “I have to purchase the game pass to even play UE,” lamented Macho. Then others, like NoobGingeBot, might well have been asking, “Is the beta available for game pass holders?” (Spoiler: It’s complicated.)
Then on to technical problems galore. God only knows why THE1GUNMAN was confused that the Gears 5 edition for their Xbox One X console can’t run the beta. “Honestly not happy at all,” they tweeted. Meanwhile, DepravedSlasher had a different kind of complaint in his bag-modes. “How about you turn on Execution. TDM is mid.”
But of course not everybody is happy about even getting the beta anyhow. MrTvGame would shilly-shally, tearing through threads and madly exclaiming, “But I already played this game almost 20 years ago. Give me something else already.” Then there’s a user identified as Phil Spencer Should Be Fired. They just ramped it up by dubbing it a “terrible day for Xbox fans” and hoping for the game’s failure. That sounds about like throwing a dagger.
Some actually got laughs through the drama. TonyStaddus joked about the missed opportunity to call it “B-Day,” while DaPhantomBear went on a lengthy rant about having absolutely no way to do anything on the checklist. “There is nothing on this checklist that I can do 😂🤣😅☹️,” they tweeted, followed by, “My minds about to explode… and I’d really rather it not.”
So what’s the verdict? Beta Day is here, but the smooth sailing is not for everyone. From missing codes and subscription confusion to divided opinions on the game itself, the Gears Of War community is split. Some are jumping right in; others are stuck at the login screen, while some are just done. The question remains whether this beta is going to reunite most longtime fans or tear down more walls between the existing ones. But one thing is glaring clear from this controversy-if nothing else, Gears Of War can still stir up conversation.
