After the XBOX Games Showcase, players were given a deep dive into the newest entry into the Gears of War franchise that takes players to the moment the whole story kicked off.
Gears of War: E-Day closed the annual XBOX Games Showcase in 2024 as the surprise final reveal—a moment of emotion and relief for The Coalition as the project they’d been keeping secret was finally shown to the world. In a detailed breakdown, the Coalition teamed showcased the incredible amount of effort and detail they’re putting into the series’ biggest return.
In an interview with Xbox Wire Editor Danielle Partis, Creative Director Matt Searcy said, “Showcase was super special for our team. Everybody here is such a huge fan of the series, and we poured our heart and soul into the announce trailer.” He continued, “That felt like the distillation of our creative vision for the game, it was super energizing for us.” That passion could be seen in the Direct as the team broke down their inspiration for the game, and the new innovations being added.
During the Direct, Searcy said, “When we started this project, we were moving to Unreal Engine 5. It was a new foundation with a blank slate, so we took a moment to reflect on what makes Gears so special.” He highlighted the necessity to bring together all the things both the team and the fans love about Gears of War—brotherhood, brutality, a sense of melancholic beauty—and how all of those things are perfectly captured in this singular moment: E-Day.
According to Technical Director Kate Rayner, E-Day is a story they could never tell before, because they didn’t have the technology to do it. She focused on highlight a world being delivered with an incredible level of detail with seamless large-scale environments, unprecedented graphic fidelity and richer, real-time destruction. “Starting with an empty hard drive, we literally built everything from scratch,” Rayner said, adding, “and then we tear it apart in front of you.”
Players will be given a range of dynamic movement never-before seen in the Gears of War franchise. As Searcy says, “This is a game that feels like Gears, but plays like new.” Movements are faster and more fluid, allowing players to run, slide into cover, vault over obstacles and even jump to reach new areas or give themselves strategic advantages. Combat maintains that chunky, brutal feeling that the series is known for, but with a smoother, more advanced feel that comes from the new engine.
This also allows for battlefields to be far more dynamic, featuring a larger sense of scale and much more complexity of objects and how players encounter each fight. It combines Coalition’s desire to use the city of Kalona not only for visual storytelling—as players are seeing a place that was filled with life slowly be destroyed—but also to create memorable battles that utilize a broad range of ideas.
The move to Unreal 5 also allowed Coalition to bring this heightened visual fidelity to its storytelling and world-building. Telling two origin stories, the game not only captures what is the beginning of the Locust War, but its also the formation of the friendship that would carry Marcus and Dom’s through the entirety of the original trilogy. Gears of War: E-Day begins with the two grieving the loss of Dom’s brother (and Marcus’ best friend) Carlos and goes into what is essentially the formation of Bravo Squad.
Rayner highlighted the level of fidelity in characters that exceeds anything from previous games, saying “Marcus has more detail in his eyelashes than his entire character model did in the original Gears of War for the XBOX 360.” Characters have three times more joints and over 350 facial shapes which allows them to convey a level of emotion that was not possible in any of the series’ installments. And the team highlighted the necessity of complex emotion, since it runs at the core of Gears of War: E-Day’s story.
Naturally, this plays into the game’s gore effects which is somewhat of a staple for the Gears of War series. Technical Art Director Colin Penty said, “Our new gore system means damage feels meaty, responsive and satisfying.” The new system allows players to focus on specific body parts in order to completely dismember opponents and utilize the added carnage for tactical advantages in combat. It also makes fights feel much more intense and desperate as players feel like the wrong shot can completely end their mission.
Players also saw the return of fan favourite weapons from the Gears of War series, such as the Gnasher Shotgun, Longshot Sniper Rifle and of course the iconic Lancer—all of which have been lovingly redesigned and updated in Unreal Engine 5. And of course, the team introduces some new weapons as well, like the five-round Gutpuncher Grenade Launcher, or the acid-blasting Incinerator Shotgun.
But its not just the story that Gears of War: E-Day hopes to deliver on for fans. They also acknowledged that the series has always had a strong multiplayer focus and for this entry they’re reinventing the Horde mode introduced in Gears of War 2 for a new 12-player PvE “Horde Siege,” where three squads defend Kalona across larger city maps, and even bigger foes. Gears of War: E-Day will also feature the 4v4 Versus mode, and while details were light, players can sign up for an Open-Beta weekends starting August 6.
Gears of War: E-Day will launch as an XBOX Series X|S exclusive October 6th 2026.
