It’s an exciting proposition, especially with the developer confirming a return to the original’s horror roots. Interestingly, former series art director Jerry O’Flaherty provided an apt comparison, calling the first game the “Alien” of the series while subsequent entries were more like “Aliens.”

“Agreed,” he said when asked by FRVR about E-Day channeling the first game’s horror. “It felt like… a franchise is gonna do what people do. I just felt like the first one had more of a horror [theme]. It felt like a horror with monsters, and then it quickly became a monster game, which is fine, people fricking love 2, 3, 4, but it was a little bit of a smaller, more isolationist nature to that horror game.

“If Gears 1 was Alien, the rest of the franchise was Aliens. It was a lot more, you know, there was a hiding of the bad guy, there was just the tension and the horror that you were pulling out of every location, and I loved that… I loved the horror aspect of what we did in the first one.”

While Epic Games (which developed the original trilogy) pushed Unreal Engine 3 with Gears of War 1, it went for a more cinematic presentation with a “reduced palette” and lots of darkness.

“Very early on, we knew we wanted to push cinematic content. We were doing it from even before Gears was properly in development; we were having to make videos to show Peter Moore, and there was this constant little back channel feeding of stuff we were working on. It was horror. It was a horror game, and horror is going to be a reduced palette; it’s going to be a lot of dark.”

Gears of War: E-Day launches in 2026 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. The Coalition has confirmed it will unfold over the course of several days and offer a “new feel” for the franchise.

The premise of Lost Rift involves the player and/or their friends, ending up stranded on the mysterious Pioneer’s Landing. You’ll set out to survive, but per a Steam Community post, there’s over 10 hours of PvE narrative gameplay to experience when early access launches. That means story quests, survivors to recruit, different biomes to discover and various secrets.

Up to four players can team together in PvE, but there are also PvEvP Expeditions where you’ll face other players. These have an extraction focus, where you need to gather loot and escape. If other players wipe out your team, it’s all lost. Regardless of the mode, the base-building affords a good amount of customization to keep you busy.

Of course, since this is early access, People Can Fly warns that there will be placeholders for some “final art and polish.” These will be updated as early access progresses, and the team will share all planned content drops in a public roadmap closer to launch.

Regarding the former, CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski said that Square Enix had not presented a “draft of the subsequent content rider to the Publishing Agreement covering the terms and conditions of further milestones on Project Gemini and the lack of communication from the Publisher as to its willingness to continue or terminate the Gemini project.”

This affected Project Bifrost in turn, though Wojciechowski notes the Group’s cash flow showed “a lack of prospects for securing organizational resources and funds necessary to continue the production and release of this project.” People Can Fly must thus “significantly regroup as a studio and scale down our teams.”

“We wish to express our deepest regret and sadness over how these events have unfolded and our sincere gratitude for everyone’s contribution up to this point,” said Wojciechowski. The studio previously worked with Square Enix on Outriders, a sci-fi third-person looter shooter for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC.

The publisher announced over 3.5 million players less than two months after launch, calling it the “company’s next major franchise.” However, People Can Fly revealed that it failed to turn a profit roughly a year later, resulting in no royalties earned.

People Can Fly still has other projects in the works, including Gears of War: E-Day alongside The Coalition and an unannounced title for Sony based on a PlayStation IP.

Featured publishers still include Ubisoft, Failbetter Games, Devolver Digital, and Astra Logical. However, you can also look forward to announcements from 11 bit studios, Ghost Ship Publishing and Gameswing, Krafton, People Can Fly, Dear Villagers, Blumhouse Games, and many more. Saber Interactive, Shiro Games, Aspyr, and Level Infinite have also been confirmed.

Based on the publishers, we can probably expect updates on The Alters, Frostpunk 2, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Lost Rift, Delta Force, and much more. We may also see the next update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which goes live in June and adds a new story quest, immersion settings, and more.

The jury is still out, but host Sean “Day[9]” Plott confirmed that the offerings range “from indie to triple-A.” Stay tuned for more details and updates as the showcase draws nearer.

In January, People Can Fly officially confirmed that it was providing development support on The Coalition and Xbox’s Gears of War: E-Day, and it’s now confirmed it as Project Maverick. Caught by XboxEra, on an About Us page on its official website, the studio lists the upcoming third-person shooter among its ongoing projects, and confirms it as Project Maverick.

People Can Fly is currently also working on Project Gemini alongside Square Enix, and Project Delta, which is based on an IP owned by PlayStation.

Gears of War: E-Day is in development for Xbox Series X/S and PC. A release date hasn’t been announced for the game, but allegedly, the game is targeting a 2026 launch.

Though they eventually set out to see what’s wrong, the trailer is cut short by a monster jump-scaring the camera. Something supernatural is going on, and alongside PvEvP gameplay, players can also engage in some regular PvP. Nothing says island survival like some Lord of the Flies-style skirmishes.

Lost Rift is coming to PC via Steam Early Access, so stay tuned for more details and gameplay in the coming months (alongside a launch date). People Can Fly is also working on Gears of War: E-Day (rumored to launch in 2026) and recently entered an agreement with Sony to develop Project Delta based on the latter’s existing IP.

In development under the codename Project Delta, not much is known about the game other than the fact that it is based on an IP owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Given People Can Fly’s extensive experience with shooters – the studio has worked on Bullestorm, Gears of War: Judgment, Outriders, and more – PlayStation fans will likely jump to the likes of Killzone, Resistance, and SOCOM as the likeliest candidates for whatever this new game is.

People Can Fly says in its announcement that the “scope and provisions” for Project Delta won’t be too far off from other similar AAA projects it has partnered on with major publishers.

People Can Fly is currently also working with Microsoft on Project Maverick, which is based on an existing Xbox IP and is rumoured to be a PvP shooter. The studio is also providing development support on Gears of War: E-Day, and working on its own new VR IP.

People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski stated on the company’s website, “Returning to collaborate on the next chapter of this legendary saga is both a privilege and an exciting opportunity to build upon the intense, visceral action and rich storytelling that fans have come to love. We are deeply grateful for our partners’ trust and support on this journey.”

Development director Guillaume Barry also noted that the team, consisting of “dedicated Gears of War fans,” is “pouring everything we have into creating an experience that will exceed expectations. While we can’t share more just yet, we’re eager for the day when we can show all the exciting things we’ve been working on.”

Mike Crump, studio head at The Coalition, added, “Gears of War: E-Day is not just our next major game; it’s a return to what makes Gears of War games special and authentic. We’re pleased to be partnering with the talented folks at People Can Fly who have been a part of our franchise’s legacy for so long.”

As a prequel, the story focuses on Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago after Emergence Day occurs. As COG soldiers, they must battle against the Locusts and attempt to protect Sera. It takes place 14 years before the first game, though The Coalition confirmed its the next mainline title and not a spinoff.

Players will explore a new location, the City of Kalona, across a linear campaign spanning multiple days, with a more horrifying atmosphere akin to the original. Of course, fans can also look forward to multiplayer, while Unreal Engine 5 offers ray tracing, improved animations, and extensive destruction.

Gears of War: E-Day is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC, with rumors claiming it could launch this Fall. Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

In a recently published report, the developer said it had taken the decision to discontinue further development on Project Dagger due to “unsatisfactory results of the evaluation of the scope and commercial potential of the project.”

“The discontinuation of work on the project is the result of re-analysis of the development plans for projects implemented by the capital group of People Can Fly and introducing changes to these plans in connection with the unsatisfactory results of the evaluation of the scope and commercial potential of the project after redefining the direction of the game’s development,” the developer wrote.

The Outriders developer currently has multiple other projects in development- like Project Maverick, which is being made exclusively for Xbox in collaboration with Microsoft. Project Maverick is based on an existing Xbox IP, and will seemingly be a PvP shooter.

Also in development is Project Gemini, which is being published by Square Enix. Earlier this year, however, it was reported that People Can Fly had reevaluated and shrunk the project’s scope, leading to layoffs at the studio.

People Can Fly is currently also working on a new VR IP, while leaks have claimed that the studio is also developing a PlayStation-exclusive third-person shooter RPG in collaboration with Sony.

However, job listings published by the developer seem to give some indication as to what to expect. Specifically, a listing for the position of Senior Level Designer suggests that Project Maverick is going to be a PvP shooter, with the listing mentioning experience with working on shooters and with designing PvP maps under its required qualifications section.

Of course, whether that means the game will be exclusively PvP or if it will feature a PvP component alongside PvE or solo modes remains to be seen. This does raise the question of what IP it is that People Can Fly is working on. The studio has worked on Gears of War in the past with 2013’s Gears of War: Judgment, so is it possible that it’s been entrusted with another game in the series?

People Can Fly has a number of titles currently in development, including a new VR-exclusive IP, a self-published action-adventure game, a new game in partnership with Square Enix, and an alleged RPG shooter in collaboration with PlayStation.

In January, it was reported that the scope for the studio’s Square Enix title had shrunk, leading to over 30 job cuts.