Gears 5 multiplayer test starting soon: Here’s what to expect and how to join

By Aaron Mamiit July 7, 2019

Gears 5 will start its multiplayer test this month, which will give fans a wider glimpse into the upcoming and much-hyped new entry to the Gears of War series.

The Coalition, through an Xbox Wire blog post, said that the Versus Multiplayer Technical Test, will be available to download for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PC on July 17. It will then be active on July 19 to July 21, and again on July 26 to July 29.

The multiplayer test will include Escalation, the updated competitive mode; Arcade, described as a new and approachable multiplayer mode; and King of the Hill, a fan favorite. Players will also be able to access the Bootcamp mode to practice their skills and learn the game’s new mechanics, and Tour of Duty, which is a series of challenges that will unlock an exclusive Tech Test Banner once completed.

To join the multiplayer test, gamers will need to have purchased Gears 5, either as a physical or digital pre-order, or as part of the Xbox Game Pass membership. The test will also require an active Xbox Live Gold subscription for the Xbox One.

The Coalition said that gamers may encounter some queueing when playing, which is expected since the multiplayer test will check the Gears 5 servers. The developer is hoping that the test will help make the game a great online experience upon launch, for all players and Xbox Game Pass members.

The hype for Gears 5 further escalated at E3 2019, where the game showcased its new co-op Escape mode that has three players working together as Hivebusters and clearing out the Swarm. The three playable characters in the mode have unique active and passive abilities, which encourages cooperation and makes each player’s role in the team a bit different compared to the others.

Gears 5 will also offer a new Horde mode, which will be playable on August 19 at Gamescom 2019. The mode will also include unique characters, similar to the game’s Escape mode.

Gears 5 will be released on September 10 for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, however, will gain early access to the game, four days before anybody else.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…

Gaming

PlayStation June State of Play: How to watch, what to expect

Stray's cat protagonist standing in front of a neon lit city.

PlayStation announced another State of Play, set to air on June 2. As with the last State of Play that aired two months ago, the event isn't going to be focusing on first-party reveals. Instead, PlayStation promises a showcase full of games from the third-party developers. The show will also put a major emphasis on PlayStation VR2, revealing the first games for the platform.

Here's how you can watch the event and what to expect.

Gaming

You can now update your PS5 controller on PC. Here’s how

A person holds up a PS5 controller.

PC gamers no longer have to update their PS5 DualSense controller solely on their PlayStation 5. Sony announced that the controller can now get firmware updates when it's plugged into the PC.

Sony set up a page that gives detailed instructions on how players can update their PS5 controller through PC without any issues. First and foremost, you'll need a Windows PC that runs on Windows 10 or Windows 11 in order to perform the updates. This might be due to the fact that the company has ported PS4 and PS5 games over to Steam and the Epic Games Store over the last couple of years, and most PC games run on Windows instead of Mac.

Gaming

PlayStation Showcase 2021: When it airs, how to watch, what to expect

Aloy stands on a mountain in Horizon Forbidden West.

Whereas Xbox held a showcase during Gamescom, Sony will be flaunting what's next for the PlayStation 5 during its own separate showcase today. The PlayStation Showcase will be Sony's first event since the company's last PlayStation State of Play in July, where we got updates on multiple new and existing titles, including Death Stranding Director's Cut, Sifu, and Deathloop. Here's how you can watch today's stream and what to realistically expect from it.
When is the PlayStation Showcase stream?
This week's PlayStation Showcase will air at 1 p.m. PT today. According to an announcement for the event on the PS Blog, the showcase will last around 40 minutes and include a post-show with updates from developers featured during the Showcase.
Where can I watch the PlayStation Showcase stream?
PlayStation Showcase 2021 [ENGLISH]

Viewers can catch the upcoming PlayStation Showcase stream on PlayStation's YouTube channel and Twitch channel.
What to expect from the PlayStation Showcase?
While an announcement post for the PlayStation Showcase stream lays out (albeit vaguely) what viewers can expect, Sony's recent announcements for PlayStation could give us some specifics. The stream will "include updates from PlayStation Studios and some of the industry's most imaginative developers, for games releasing this holiday and beyond." However, the post explicitly notes that the next-gen iteration of PlayStation VR won't be present at the show.