Gears of War: E-Day is The Coalition’s “most ambitious game yet,” says studio head — and the upcoming Xbox sequel will be the “best place to jump into the Gears universe”

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As 2025 ends, the Xbox team shared a look back at their first-party games released this year and offered a glimpse of what’s coming in 2026, including the next installment in the Gears of War series.

In an interview with Xbox Wire, Mike Crump, head of The Coalition studio, discussed the launch of Gears of War: Reloaded and provided updates on the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day.

Crump stated that E-Day is their most ambitious project yet, built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 to maintain the feel of Gears while offering a fresh experience. He described it as a return to the series’ origins, focusing on Marcus and Dom’s first encounters with the Locust. He believes it’s the perfect starting point for new players and promised more details next year.

While Gears of War: Reloaded was a remaster released in August for Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, Gears of War: E-Day will be the first completely new mainline game since 2019’s Gears 5.

Currently, only a reveal trailer has been shown, but Gears of War: E-Day is expected to launch sometime in 2026. The game centers around Emergence Day, the event that triggered the war between humans and the Locust Horde.

I’m particularly interested to see how Crump plans to make this game accessible to new players, especially considering it’s a prequel with new backstory elements. I wonder if there are other features planned to help newcomers get acquainted with the Gears universe.

2026 will be a big year for Xbox Game Studios

While Gears of War: E-Day is a major upcoming Xbox game, it’s just one of many planned for release in 2026. Several teams at Xbox Game Studios are currently developing new titles.

Halo Studios is working on Halo: Campaign Evolved, a significantly expanded remake of the original Halo game that will also be available on PlayStation for the first time.

Playground Games has two projects in development: Forza Horizon 6, an open-world racing game designed for the Japanese market, and a complete reboot of the Fable role-playing series, which hasn’t seen a new installment in years.

Beyond these new games, Xbox also plans to release updates and downloadable content for titles launched in 2025, such as The Outer Worlds 2 from Obsidian Entertainment.

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2025-12-19 00:39