Gears of War 3 and Batman: Arkham City are two of the biggest titles launching this holiday season and of course, big budget titles also mean big budget soundtracks. Fans of video game soundtracks can look forward to each title’s respective release very soon.

The Gears of War 3 Soundtrack will launch simultaneously with the game on September 20, 2011 and is composed by Steve Jablonsky, the composer for Gears of War 2. Jablonsky also has credits scoring many movie blockbusters, such as the Transformers movies and The Island. The soundtrack will be over 80 minutes long and features a mix of live orchestra and choir, as well as some electronic elements. Simply put, fans of the music in either the Gears of War franchise or any of the aformentioned movies will most likely enjoy this soundtrack.

For fans who don’t really enjoy the more orchestral side of video game music, the Batman: Arkham City soundtrack should be something to look forward to. The soundtrack for the sequel to Arkham Asylum contains twelve tracks from many popular artists, all brand new, composed specifically for the game itself.

“Gears of War 3 is huge. It was like scoring a summer blockbuster. I love the guys at Epic because to them, the characters and the story are just as important as the gameplay. Yes, the gameplay is awesome and badass, but there is a ton of depth to these characters, and I think that’s a big part of why so many people love this franchise. Epic’s commitment to story allows me to dig deeper musically and really have some fun with the score.”

    1. Panic! At The Disco - Mercenary 2. Coheed and Cambria - Deranged 3. The Duke Spirit - Creature 4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Shadow On The Run 5. Blaqk Audio - Afterdark 6. The Raveonettes - Oh, Stranger 7. ††† (Crosses) - The Years 8. The Damned Things - Trophy Widow 9. Daughtry - Drown In You 10. The Boxer Rebellion - Losing You 11. Serj Tankian - Total Paranoia 12. A Place to Bury Strangers - In The Shadow *Bonus Collector’s Edition track

Warner Bros. also revealed the official cover for the soundtrack:

The Batman: Arkham City Soundtrack will release on October 4, 2011, two weeks before the game’s October 18th release date. Now before fans go to pre-order the soundtrack, there is one little tidbit of news: the soundtrack will also be included in the Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition. The Collector’s Edition will come with a code to to download the full album, including the twelfth track which appears to be exclusive to the collector’s edition.

Gears of War 3 releases September 20th, 2011, exclusively for the Xbox 360, and Batman: Arkham City releases October 18th, 2011 for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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