True to leaks and speculation, Microsoft unveiled a new Gears of War game at the recent Xbox Games Showcase, though rather than announcing Gears 6, the company announced a prequel in the form of Gears of War: E-Day. Even so, in spite of the fact that the game will not advance the series’ ongoing story and isn’t a numbered entry, Microsoft and developer The Coalition have emphasized that the upcoming shooter isn’t a spinoff or a side entry, and is instead being developed as a full-fledged mainline Gears of War game.
The same was stressed by Microsoft in an Xbox Wire post, which stated that in addition to being an origin story for protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, Gears of War: E-Day will also add “detail and context” to this earlier point in the series’ timeline that will “resonate through stories that will follow”.
“It’s also important to note that E-Day is not a spin-off, it’s a completely new entry to the mainline series, set earlier in the timeline,” the blog post reads. “The events of the game not only serve as an exciting origin tale of two beloved characters, but it also adds detail and context to this period that will resonate through stories that will follow. In E-day, the Locust are not foes that our characters are accustomed to fighting. They are mysterious, formidable and overwhelming – an unforeseen horror that Marcus, Dom, and the rest of Sera must learn to deal with before it’s too late. Everything that happens in E-Day will shape the future of Gears of War for the better. ”
Meanwhile, brand director Nicole Fawcette also provided assurances that The Coalition will eventually follow up on Gears 5’s cliffhanger ending, but chose to hold off on that for the time being, feeling that E-Day was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“We’re super proud about Gears 4 and Gears 5 and the stories that were told,” Fawcette said. “We’re not retreating from that storyline in any way. But in [this] moment, we had an opportunity to write our next step, and this one just felt too good to miss.”
Gears of War: E-Day is going to be an entirely linear game, which means it won’t be building on the semi-open world experiments of Gears 5. The Coalition has also provided details on the game’s technical advancements, enabled by Unreal Engine 5. Read more on that through here.
Gears of War: E-Day is in development for Xbox Series X/S and PC. It doesn’t yet have a release date or window.
