Gears of War 3 delayed to "fall 2011", delay was a "business decision," says Epic

Microsoft's announced it's delayed Gears of War 3 from an original April 8, 2011 launch, and will now release in "fall 2011."

In a statement from MS, the publisher said the development team at Epic Games "have done great work thus far readying the title for release in the Spring of 2011."

But it further added: "However, we've elected to move the launch of Gears of War 3 until Fall 2011 to make it the marquee title for the holiday season."

According to a statement VG247 received from Epic Games, the move was "just a business decision" and was  "absolutely not a development slip".

"I know fans are going to be disappointed with the new release date, but rest assured that this is a business decision between partners, and not a quality issue," said executive producer Rod Fergusson. "Gears 3 was on track to be the most polished Gears of War game ever when it released in April, and this additional time allows us to polish it that much more before it hits shelves next fall.

"Next week, we have a major multiplayer press visit at Epic HQ, and I'm really looking forward to the fans getting to see and hear about Gears 3 Versus multiplayer for the first time. Lots more exciting news to come."

According to a tweet from Mark Rein, the game will be released around the holidays, and " there will be some nice silver linings inside this little cloud...some to be revealed next week".

We'll be waiting, then.

Gears of War 3's Beast Mode is playable on the Eurogamer Expo showfloor this weekend.