Buy Crackdown on the Xbox 360 and get a invite to the Halo multiplayer 3 beta program.

Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios are ringing in the year with a proverbial bang, as they announced today another way for gamers to receive an invitation to participate in the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta program coming this spring through Xbox Live Marketplace.

Gamers will be able to receive an invitation by purchasing the upcoming game “Crackdown,” which hits store shelves in North America on February 20th and in Europe on February 23rd 2007

The “Halo 3” multiplayer beta, which is a pre-release version of the multiplayer experience of “Halo 3,” is scheduled for availability in spring 2007 exclusively on Xbox 360. The beta also represents an opportunity for gamers to participate in the testing and refinement of the multiplayer gameplay of “Halo 3,” the most anticipated game of 2007. Through the resulting feedback, Bungie Studios will be able to further hone the end result of “Halo 3.”

When “Crackdown” hits store shelves, gamers eager to take home a copy of the highly anticipated exclusive action title for Xbox 360 will find marked boxes of “Crackdown” that include an invite to participate in the coveted “Halo 3” multiplayer beta program when it becomes available. When the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta surfaces in spring 2007, owners of “Crackdown” with access to an Xbox 360 or an Xbox 360 Core System with hard drive and a valid Xbox Live Gold subscription simply need to load their copy of “Crackdown” into Xbox 360 and use the disc as a key to download the beta from Xbox Live Marketplace and join the battle in “Halo 3” multiplayer.

From Realtime Worlds, “Crackdown” pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with a rich and immersive 3-D playground. Gamers level up their Agent’s strength, agility, firearms, explosives and driving skills while scaling the fully vertical world of “Crackdown.” This 15 BBFC rated game incorporates revolutionary co-op gameplay throughout the entire free-form campaign. Creating a volatile cocktail of judicial oppression, players will clean up the streets of a truly interactive world when “Crackdown” hits store shelves at an estimated retail price of £44.99.