It has been confirmed by Microsoft that Gears of War 3, which was slated to arrive in April, 2011 has been delayed for release until fall 2011 instead. While no exact release was given for the delay, it is believed that the delay could, in fact, be a marketing decision, rather than a need for additional development time or a production delay of some sort.

Sources tell us that they believe that Microsoft is going to use Gears of War 3 as their big fall exclusive title due to the fact that they don’t have anything else this high profile or this much in demand for fall 2011. The company would have perhaps liked to had a new Halo title release, but 343 Industries (which is the new internal studio handling the franchise) will not have something ready that quickly for release. It is expected that 343’s first Halo title will arrive in the fall of 2012.

Gears of War 3 received a very positive reception during its showing at E3 earlier this year; and after this showing it was one of the titles that Xbox fans were most looking forward to.