Windows Central Insider
Gears of War, the franchise I grew to love on Xbox consoles, feels fitting to be the game bringing back console exclusivity for Xbox. Seeing Asha come to the stage to announce it was something I didn’t expect to start the show off, but here we are!
Coming October 7, 2026, Gears of War: E-Day will see Marcus Fenix and Dom teaming up before the initial series timeline. An earlier war, which sees the unraveling of human civilization on the planet’s surface as the Locust first begin to take hold.
Grounded on the city streets, initial footage showcases Dom and Marcus making use of what weapons they can get hold of to push through Locusts and save what civilians they can. Younger, faster, and a lot less muscular, Marcus is seen pushing through in an almost horror-style action as civilians, buildings, and vehicles are attacked left and right.
The Locust begin to overwhelm their position as Marcus unloads his weapon before it gets jammed. He uses the all-too-faithful lance on the front to take a Locust down, or at least, he thinks it should. As the Locust grabs his neck and raises him up the pillar, Dom fails to notice as the lights begin to go out for Marcus. Just before he’s miraculously saved by another COG.
Yeah, I think I like where this back-to-its-roots approach is going. Sign me up to enlist!
Exclusivity is back — In some form
The other massive announcement came in the form of exclusivity. It seems Gears of War: E-Day won’t be headed to PlayStation; instead, it'll stay on the Microsoft machines in the form of Xbox consoles and Windows PCs.
In a gigantic turning point for Xbox, the return of console exclusives marks a pivotal point in the future of Xbox that is yet to be determined. As sales of hardware have plummeted, will the return of these deals increase that number? Will the regrowth be sudden, or will it take years of ongoing work to repair?
While it seems other games, like Halo: Campaign Evolved, will remain on PlayStation, no previous deal was put in place to bring Gears of War: E-Day to PlayStation, so games that haven’t been announced seem to be headed toward that exclusive path once more. New titles yet to be announced could still be exclusive.
However, State of Decay 3 breaks that example, as it is not confirmed to be coming in 2027 to Xbox and PlayStation. Perhaps, as State of Decay 3 is seen as more of an online, GaaS title, it will be headed multiplatform.
Either way, exclusives are back.
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