Gears 5 studio The Coalition shifting to Unreal Engine 5 for “multiple new” next-generation projects

Gears 5 studio The Coalition shifting to Unreal Engine 5 for “multiple new” next-generation projects
Ben Borthwick Updated on by

Posted in News

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Gears (formerly Gears of War) studio The Coalition has announced that it is to start shifting resources to next-gen development at the studio, and will be using Unreal Engine 5 for future projects.

In an open letter to the Gears community, the studio thanked its fans and said it was proud of the work it had achieved during the global pandemic, releasing strategy spin-off Gears Tactics to Xbox Series X|S as well as the recent Hivebusters expansion for Gears 5 released at the tail end of last year.

“As we look to future games, we’re excited to start shifting our resources to next-gen development using Unreal Engine 5,” the studio wrote. “Gears of War has always been at the front of Unreal Engine development – as a breakout 720p title for Xbox 360 through last year’s 120FPS multiplayer update for Xbox Series X|S – and we’re excited to continue that tradition by developing on UE5 for multiple new projects in the coming years.”

What this means for Gears 5 as the game currently stands, it will continue to get new content with Operations 7 and 8 on the way, including new characters, new maps and new special events, and store updates and promised with “exciting new content.”

For the future however, The Coalition warns that shifting to a new engine is a “big undertaking” and has tempered fans’ expectations that we might see a next-gen focused Gears 6 reveal in the immediate future, saying “we want to be clear that we will not be announcing any new projects or titles for some time.”

On the positive side, the studio has said it’s hiring, so if you fancy helping the team finish Cait’s story (which, no spoilers, but ended on quite the cliffhanger) you should probably check out their website. Gears 5 and expansion Gears 5: Hivebusters are available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.