Xbox Game Studios" The Coalition today revealed what its future plans are for the studio. In recent years it has launched Gears 5 and Gears Tactics, followed by upgraded versions of the two games for Xbox Series X|S, plus the Gears 5: Hivebusters expansion and continued live service content updates.
While Gears 5 content updates will continue, the studio has confirmed that it is now shifting its resources to next-gen games projects, and Epic Games" Unreal Engine 5 will be powering them.
"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," said the studio in a blog post explaining the decision.
This is not the only Microsoft-owned studio jumping on Unreal Engine 5 for next-gen games development. Both Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 from Ninja Theory and inXile Entertainment"s next project will be using the Epic Games developed engine.
The Coalition did not say today if these next-gen games are from the Gears of War universe or something else entirely, only adding that "shifting to a new engine is a big undertaking, so we want to be clear that we will not be announcing any new projects or titles for some time." It"s clear that fans won"t see what these games are during Microsoft"s upcoming E3 Xbox presentation.