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.
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. Both DiMaggio and Ferro reprise their roles of Fenix and Santiago respectively. 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. 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. Similar to the early games of the series,
E-Day had a large focus on horror. Locust Drones, which were
cannon fodder in early installments of the series, were redesigned in
E-Day to look more intimidating and formidable. It will also introduce the origin of
Lancer Assault Rifle, a signature weapon for the series.
E-Day, as a prequel to the original trilogy, was billed as a mainline installment in the series. 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. In contrast to
Gears 5 which introduced elements commonly found in
open world games,
E-Day will be a more linear experience. The game was officially announced in June 2024 with an in-engine trailer created in collaboration with
Blur Studio and GNet.
Design 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. Hardware-accelerated
ray tracing, including ray traced reflections and shadows, is included alongside a new destruction and gore system. == Release ==