Invite buddies to Gears 3 beta on May 8

Players will soon be able to invite friends into Gears of War 3 beta matches by earning tokens to allow them access.

Every person who has played a game in the Gears beta will receive a buddy token. Other ways to earn tokens are to purchase any Gears content off the Xbox Live Marketplace or by buying a 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription to your account. You don’t have to spend money to earn tokens, too - players who have played more than 20 hours of the Gears 3 beta or more than 100 hours on any Gears of War game, PC or 360, in their lifetime can earn a token.

Tokens can only be earned from now til this Wednesday, May 4. Gamers will be sent beta codes afterward, depending on the number of tokens earned (the maximum is 5), and buddies can start playing on May 8.

The beta itself ends on May 15, however, so the fun will only last a week more. Let’s hope Epic fixes the lag issues by the time Gears of War 3 is released on September 20.