The Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta began a few days ago, but the rollout hasn't gone exactly to plan due to problems with the distribution of beta codes.

There may be a while to go before the highly-anticipated Gears of War 4 is released in October, but players are already getting an early taste of some gory action with the game's recently-launched multiplayer beta test. However, it appears that some players haven't been able to access the Gears of War 4 beta due to a few issues with the distribution of beta codes.

In order to gain access to the Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta, players had to have played Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on either Xbox One or PC by April 11, and a beta code would have been sent to those gamers in chronological order based on when they played. However, it appears that there was an issue with the code drop, and the codes weren't distributed as originally intended.

In a forum post by Gears of War 4 developer The Coalition, the developer states it is aware of the issue and is working towards a fix. To address the distribution problem, The Coalition announced a new code drop for the evening of April 18.

"Microsoft Operations had an issue this morning with their code drop and unfortunately the codes will not be distributed in chronological order as originally messaged. We will be doing another code drop [evening of April 18] to help address some of the issues. As noted before, codes will be going out in waves as we ramp up our servers through the beta.

Starting tomorrow morning (pacific time), we will be sending out a higher volume of codes to help compensate for this change and due to server stability seen during Day 1 of our beta.

This change and volume will carry on through Wednesday and Thursday morning (pacific time) which will cover off on everyone for early access.

We apologize for the confusion during this process and we are looking forward to seeing everyone in-game during the beta."

For those who didn't get their beta code, or who missed out on playing Gears of War: Ultimate Edition before the April deadline, there's still a chance to try the beta. A second phase of beta testing will begin from April 25th to May 1st, and this second phase will be open to everyone.

As for those who have just started the Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta, there's an additional incentive to keep playing, as there are a number of rewards on offer for anyone who reach level 20 during the test period.

Encountering issues during a beta test isn't uncommon - just look at all of Street Fighter 5's beta test problems - and it's better to have problems now than having problems come up in the final product. Despite the server and code distribution issues, it hasn't stopped the Gears of War 4 beta from offering fans an incredibly fun experience, something that's bound to make long-time Gears fans happy.

Unfortunately for PC and PlayStation 4 owners, Gears of War 4 is an Xbox One exclusive, meaning that the beta tests are for Xbox owners only. But based on what we've seen of the game's awesome gameplay, perhaps it's time to consider investing in an Xbox One before Gears of War 4 is launched later this year.

Gears of War 4 will arrive exclusively for the Xbox One on October 11, 2016.

Source: Gears of War Forums (via GameSpot)