A two-week long Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta was announced by The Coalition and Microsoft Tuesday. Developers and publishers have often been accused of using betas as more of a demo to promote the release of game. That’s not the case with the Xbox One third-person shooter, however, according to the developer.

The Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta will kick off on Monday, April 18, with limited access to those who played Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. This early access period will last until Sunday, April 24. Afterwards, the open beta will begin on Monday, April 25, and run through Sunday, May 1, for all Xbox LIVE members.

The use of betas just days or weeks before a game’s launch has often been pointed at by gamers as nothing more than a marketing opportunity to build hype. That shouldn’t be an issue with Gears of War 4, since its launch date is several months from now, in fall 2016. Still, Coalition Director of Community Adam Fletcher made clear the studio is using this as an opportunity to improve the game.

“We actually are using the term ‘beta’ as a real ‘beta.’ This isn’t a demo,” Fletcher said in response to a NeoGAF poster. “We are looking for feedback so we can make changes before launch. We are also testing our back end.”

[Image via Gears of War]

Gamers saw a similar situation with Halo 5: Guardians. 343 Industries released a beta the December prior to the game’s launch. The beta ran for three weeks and was used to make a laundry list of tweaks and adjustments to balance the gameplay as well as the multiplayer maps. The adjustments and bug fixes based on feedback from the Halo 5 beta resulted in a needed solid launch of the shooter following a year of troubles with The Master Chief Collection.

Expect The Coalition to do much the same with Gears of War 4. The studio will be looking for feedback from the community on how the maps play along with the balance of the weapons in the various game modes. How quickly players can get into a game via matchmaking plus how well the servers are able to handle load will also be important points of emphasis for the developers.

Server load is the reason why invites to the early access portion of the beta will be doled out in waves starting on April 18, instead of inviting everyone at once.

“We need to test our servers under duress. We are doing them in waves to ensure we don’t completely spike it and then no one ends up playing,” Fletcher explained on the Gears of War forums. “We will have more information on distribution here in the coming weeks leading up to beta. We have most definitely taking notes from those last two code distributions.”

He went on to say the process for distributing codes will be as transparent as possible with a plan laid out for the community beforehand.

[Image via Xbox Wire]

Additional details for the Gears of War 4 multiplayer came out of Game Informer‘s spread of the Xbox One exclusive yesterday. It is confirmed the multiplayer will remain humans vs monsters. In this case, the monsters are represented by the Swarm while humans will consist of COG soldiers and human Outsiders. The three main playable heroes will be available during the beta – JD, Kait, and Del. They will be joined by Kait’s mother and leader of the Outsiders, Reyna. Kait’s uncle Oscar, an ex-Gear soldier, will also be available to play.

Gears of War 4 is getting a renewed emphasis on melee combat. The Coalition has added faction specific knives that can be used as part of a new takedown system. This sounds similar to Halo 5‘s assassinations, with one exception. Players will have an opportunity to counter the melee attack.

The competitive eSports scene will also receive a major focus with Gears of War 4. Season 2 of the Gears eSports ESL Pro League will kick off at the end of April, as well featuring the Ultimate Edition. This competitive push will continue, according to The Coalition’s Rod Fergusson.

“When I was at Epic, we didn’t really value pro players,” he said. “We were always focused on accessibility and how to get more recreational players. We let pro players do whatever they wanted and tried not to overdevelop for them. Now we’re trying to find that balance. We recognize that there’s this professional player, and have you sort of build a funnel toward them but also make sure your game is highly accessible.”

Meanwhile, expect more details about Gears of War 4 to hit PAX East at the same time the early access multiplayer is going on. The developer is hosting a panel on Sunday, April 24, titled Out of the Shadows: Inside Gears of War Multiplayer with The Coalition. Those that can’t attend can also watch it via the Gears of War Twitch channel.

[Image via Gears of War]