Gears of War 3 pre-orders break 1m, 1.29m play beta

Microsoft's confirmed that Gears of War 3 pre-orders have now hit 1 million worldwide, making it the fastest pre-ordered title in Xbox 360 history.

The company also confirmed that 1.29 million users from 145 countries took part in the recent multiplayer beta for the game, which concluded on Sunday, with 11 million matches played throughout the taster. That's at least over 249 years worth of matches.

Epic design boss Cliff Bleszinski called it "an overwhelming success."

"We can’t thank the fans enough," he 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."

Here's some more stats from the beta:

• More than 927 kills recorded, 23 million of which were chainsaw kills.
• 131 million executions carried out
• 23 billion bullets were fired during the beta
• 460 million ribbons and 294 million medals were earned
• 435,000 people gained use to the Cole thrashball skin and 234,000 people were able to get hold of the Gold Retro Lancer, both of which are usable in the full game's multiplayer.

Gears of War launches on September 20 worldwide for Xbox 360.