While publisher Microsoft and developer The Coalition have yet to announce a specific release date for its upcoming franchise installment "Gears of War 4," the game is already in its polishing stages of development as the beta program will kick off soon. Meanwhile, hardcore fans of the franchise get early access to the test starting Monday.

Previously confirmed by developer The Coalition, beta testers get early access on April 18. However, the early access treat for fans has a qualifier – players should have already checked out the "Gears of War: Ultimate Edition" and have had a chance to play the game on Windows 10 or Xbox One by April 11.

In an announcement on the forums on the "Gears of War" website, it is revealed that early participants will get the access codes based on how early they played "Gears of War: Ultimate Edition." This means that those who immediately began playing the anthology when it was launched in August last year will most likely get their access codes for the early beta access first, as the codes can appear on their Xbox Live inboxes as early as April 18. Players who waited for some time, though, will need to wait a bit longer as their codes will most likely arrive last.

However, The Coalition already laid out a schedule for the sending of access codes, saying, "Code waves will increase in size after the first day and stay consistent for each day after that. Our goal is to have all codes out to users by the end of day Thursday."

The entire beta stage for "Gears of War 4" hints at the game releasing soon, as the developer stated that, "As you guys know, this is a real beta and not a marketing beta for us. We need to test backend, gameplay and more within this beta."

After the early access, the open beta for "Gears of War 4" will go live from April 25 to May 1 for eligible Xbox Live Gold members.