Gamescom is slated to have plenty of games showcased during its Opening Night Live event, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has confirmed that Gears of War: E-Day will be among the titles at the event. In a social media post, Sharma has said that a new story trailer for Gears of War: E-Day will make its “world premiere” at the event. Along with this confirmation, Sharma also attached a 3-second teaser clip to give us a taste of what we might expect. Opening Night Live will take place on August 25th.
Gears of War: E-Day is going to be a prequel that tells the story of Emergence Day. Along with emphasizing the horrific nature of the event that saw the Locust kicking off its full-fledged war against humanity, it will also focus on being an origin story of sorts for the franchise as a whole, and especially for the friendship and camaraderie between protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago.
Interestingly, Gears of War: E-Day will also be the furthest in the past that the franchise has gone. While we’ve seen different stories being told before the events of the original Gears of War thanks to titles like Gears of War: Judgment and Gears Tactics, neither of the games has focused on Emergence Day itself. Judgment largely took place in the months following the fateful day, while Tactics took place an entire year after the beginning of the Locust War.
The title recently wrapped up its open beta, which took place over the course of two weekends earlier this month. Player numbers have indicated that interest in the upcoming cover shooter is quite strong, with SteamDB indicating that it saw more than 22,000 concurrent players on August 14th. This has helped it overtake other Gears of War games on Steam, like Gears of War: Reloaded, Gears 5, and Gears Tactics.
According to industry analyst Rhys Elliott, the first day of the Gears of War: E-Day beta had 1.2 million Xbox players across console and Windows, 90 percent of whom had previously played Gears 5, and 55 percent had previously played Gears of War: Reloaded. Steam numbers have told a more interesting story, however, with the beta’s quality seemingly prompting many players to pre-order the title.
Along with the main campaign, Gears of War: E-Day will also include a comprehensive set of multiplayer game modes. Versus is returning with 4-on-4 matches, and at launch, the title will have four core modes and six maps. Modes include Team Deathmatch, a new version of King of the Hill dubbed Conquest, Demolition, and Crucible. Developer The Coalition has also confirmed that limited-time game modes are planned for various events.
The game modes will be available across Ranked and Social playlists, with the former having more strict rules regarding skill ratings and penalties for leaving. Teams that want to take the Versus modes more seriously can also hit up the practice mode together in groups of four. Players more interested in co-operative gameplay can play through the entire campaign with a friend, and Gears of War: E-Day also features a returning Horde mode.
Gears of War: E-Day is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on October 6th.
