At Gamescom 2026, The Coalition’s creative director Matt Searcy and campaign director Raúl Figueroa described a Gears of War: E-Day design that keeps cover-based combat while adding jumping, sliding, climbing and more flexible movement around cover. They also described larger campaign spaces shaped around planned encounters, optional activities and environmental storytelling.
A prequel set 14 years before Gears of War
Gears of War: E-Day takes place 14 years before the original Gears of War. Its story follows Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago during the Locust emergence.
Campaign director Raúl Figueroa says the game presents its story, characters and world from the beginning, with the aim of welcoming players who are new to the series.
Movement adds options around cover
Searcy describes jumping, sliding and climbing alongside the series’ cover-based combat. The added movement is intended to give players more ways to navigate around cover. Searcy says these options came later in the design process; the team had also tried adding a jump in Gears 5, but it did not fit that game’s mechanics.
Larger campaign spaces keep objectives and combat in view
The directors describe campaign areas that are larger than a straightforward corridor but still organized around objectives and planned encounters. Optional activities and environmental details fill the routes between objectives, while the developers say they planned those spaces to keep players close to the action.
The Coalition rebuilt the project for Unreal Engine 5
Gears of War: E-Day is built with Unreal Engine 5. The Coalition’s directors describe rebuilding the project for the engine rather than simply porting the earlier setup. Searcy says the team studied the engine from the ground up and integrated MegaLights during development.
