Gears of War: E-Day revealed

A trailer for a new entry in the Gears of War series, Gears of War: E-Day capped off the Xbox Games Showcase. The cinematic trailer gave no release window for the game.

Among the many rumors and leaks surrounding the Xbox Games Showcase presentation, a new Gears of War game was one of the most widespread and trusted. Alongside Halo, Gears of War is one of the most popular and iconic franchises for the Xbox console since it began in 2006. The original trilogy was developed by Epic Games, a spinoff called Judgment was made by People Can Fly, and it finally landed with Xbox studio The Coalition.

Gears of War: E-Day isn’t Gears 6

A prequel to the original

While rumors all pointed to the big reveal being Gears 6, Gears of War: E-Day won’t be a sequel to 2019’s Gears 5 but a prequel to the very first entry in the series. Set 14 years prior to the original game, E-Day was only referenced during the games as the beginning of the war between humanity and the underground Locust creatures. E-Day, aka Emergence Day, is spoken of as a brief and deadly conflict in which humanity is almost entirely disrupted in a single day by this unexpected enemy.

The trailer calls back to the marketing of the original games, specifically the Mad World trailer that set Gears of War apart. This trailer uses a subdued version of that track and features a young Marcus Fenix in a gritty struggle against a single Locust soldier. After barely managing to overcome his foe, Marcus overlooks a city engulfed in flames as his old friend Dominic Santiago joins him.

According to Creative Director Matt Searcy, the team chose to go back to this point in time instead of continuing with a sequel because “That’s the moment it all comes together. It’s the heart of the Gears universe. Everything that happens is shaped by this day.” Despite being set in the past, E-Day will not feel like an old game. The team is committed to pushing technology, gameplay, and storytelling forward with the same level of quality fans expect from them. “It’s us revisiting the tone and the feeling of what makes Gears great, but we’re tapping into new techniques, new processes, and new technology that’s going to make the gameplay feel better than ever. It’s going to be awesome, a game that feels both truly new, and authentically Gears.” Searcy remarked.

One tidbit the team did drop was that E-Day would feature many origins, one of which will be the iconic Chainsaw Lancer the series is known for.

Gears of War: E-Day has no release date or confirmed platforms at this time, although it is almost certain that it will be available on Xbox Series X/S consoles and PC and available through Game Pass when it does launch.