Gears of War: E-Day

Set 14 years before the events of the original game, Marcus Fenix (John DiMaggio) and Dom Santiago (Carlos Ferro), two soldiers from the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG), must survive the Emergence Day in which a race of subterranean creatures known as the Locust Horde emerges from their underground lair and overwhelms the surface world of Sera.^[2] The game is set in the city of Kalona, a new location for the franchise.^[3]

The game is currently being developed by The Coalition, the studio behind Gears of War 4 and Gears 5, and People Can Fly, the co-developer of the original trilogy and the lead developer of Gears of War: Judgment.^[4]

E-Day was described by the team as an "origin story" focused on the brotherhood between series protagonist Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago. The Coalition added the game will have a "modern take" on both characters, who are youthful, "vulnerable" and inexperienced in this game.^[5] Both DiMaggio and Ferro reprise their roles of Fenix and Santiago respectively.^[6] The team chose Emergence Day as the setting because they felt that it encapsulated several core themes of the series such as the brotherhood between the coalition soldiers, a melancholic tone, and a focus on both brutality and action.^[7][8] The events in E-Day will unfold across multiple days, and the team's goal was to "capture a moment in time" and tell an "intimate" story, exploring how an ill-prepared and desperate civilization react to a sudden, nearly unstoppable apocalypse.^[9][10] Similar to the early games of the series, E-Day had a large focus on horror.^[11] Locust Drones, which were cannon fodder in early installments of the series, were redesigned in E-Day to look more intimidating and formidable.^[12] It will also introduce the origin of Lancer Assault Rifle, a signature weapon for the series.^[13]

E-Day, as a prequel to the original trilogy, was billed as a mainline installment in the series.^[14] The team felt creating a franchise origin story was an opportunity "too good to miss", and reiterated that they were not abandoning the story threads established in the newer games in the series.^[15] In contrast to Gears 5 which introduced elements commonly found in open world games, E-Day will be a more linear experience.^[3] The game was officially announced in June 2024 with an in-engine trailer created in collaboration with Blur Studio and GNet.^[16]

Character design in Gears of War: E-Day has been refined and modernized. Brand director Nicole Fawcette called Marcus and Dom in early Gears of War titles "big beefy tanks, exaggerated in their design", in part due to technical limitations. They have "come to life as human characters" in E-Day due to modern rendering techniques.^[7]

Gears of War: E-Day was developed in Unreal Engine 5 where the "leap in technical capabilities is tremendous" according to Kate Rayner, The Coalition's technical director.^[7] Rayner said E-Day boasts "over 100 times more environment and character details than Gears 5" that was built in Unreal Engine 4. With Gears of War: E-Day, The Coalition sought to "set a new standard in technical excellence" with Unreal Engine 5.^[17] Hardware-accelerated ray tracing, including ray traced reflections and shadows, is included alongside a new destruction and gore system.^[18]