During Microsoft’s Xbox E3 2018 press conference earlier this month, Gears of War franchise developer The Coalition announced the latest entry in the series, Gears 5. We assumed this was a shortened marketing name made for social media sharing, but according to studio head Rod Fergusson, that isn’t the case.
Responding to IGN editor Ryan McCaffrey on Twitter, Fergusson clarified that the full title of the game will be Gears 5.
“That is what’s going to be on the box,” Fergusson added.
All previous Gears of War games, including prequel Judgment, used the franchise’s full name instead of just “Gears.” Fergusson emphasized that the name of the series as a whole is still “Gears of War,” but with the upcoming launch of Gears Pop for mobile and Gears Tactics for PC, it made more sense to shorten the next main entry, as well.
We’re not really sure two extra words would matter that much in the scheme of things, but the name change shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. In 2015, Gears of War 4 was initially introduced as Gears 4, and players often shorten the full title, anyway. Perhaps whoever makes these decisions over at Microsoft can talk to the folks behind Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor — Martyr on trimming some of the fat from their game’s name.
Gears 5 is the first numbered entry in the series to not star a Fenix as the playable character. Instead, you will play as Kait Diaz this time around, who appeared as a supporting character in the previous game. In addition to fighting the Swarm, she must deal with visions she believes to be messages — possibly from the enemy — and J.D. Fenix, who doesn’t trust her any longer. Other returning characters include Del and J.D.’s father Marcus, and you’ll be able to play the whole campaign in either local or online cooperative modes. On Xbox One X, all modes support 4K resolution with HDR and 60 frames per second.
Gears 5 is scheduled to launch for Xbox One and PC in 2019. Also on the way is the mobile Gears Pop, which replaces the gritty visuals with Funko Pop figures, and Gears Tactics, which is the first PC-exclusive game in the series.
