Gears Of War Judgment Pushed To March 2013

Gears are turning a bit more slowly than anticipated, it would seem. The Gears of War, that is. X-Play confirmed via its twitter that the next title in the run-and-gun third-person shooter franchise, Gears of War: Judgment will be releasing sometime in March of 2013.

Cole “Train” will be back in action this time around, alongside partner in crime Baird. No, really, they apparently did something wrong and, therefore, wound up behind bars sometime before the Locust invasion. If you couldn't tell, that means Judgment is going to be a Gears prequel, giving players the chance to take part in some of the earliest moments of this epic (Get it?!), monster-filled war. We might even get a front row seat to Emergence Day. That could be pretty cool, right?

While the original announcement was made during the X-Play broadcast, no other details could be shared at the time. Gears games are typically released in the fall, usually serving as one of the early entrants for the game-filled holiday shopping window. With something as vague as “March” to tide us over, I can't help but wonder if we might be hearing about another delay sometime around the end of the year.

Then again, could it be possible that Epic Games has another title planned for their usual window and, not wanting to divide their customers, could be looking to drop two games in 2013 with a little breathing room between them? I guess we'll just have to wait and see what new-to-the-series developer People Can Fly says next. Until then, “March” it is.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed the new release date: March 19th.