Summary
The announcement of The Coalition’sGears of War: E-Daywas a huge one, simply because it’s a newGearsgame, but also because instead of continuing the story afterGears 5, it will take players back to the dreaded Emergence Day event, when the Locust Horde emerged from Sera’s surface, laid waste to its landscapes, and drove humanity to the brink of extinction. Needless to say,Gears of War: E-Daymay be one of the most importantGearsgames ever made, but it has to get here first.
The road to bringing certain highly anticipated Xbox projects to life over the last several years has been a long and winding one. Whatever the reasoning may be, these titles have taken a particularly long time to materialize, andGears of War: E-Daycan’t afford to tell a similar story. With its promises to bringGears of Warback to its horror rootsas it explores the most important event in its overarching narrative, there is far too much riding onGears of War: E-Dayto let it fizzle out as some other Xbox games have over the years. It needs to do whatever it takes to avoid the pitfalls of its ancestors so it can arrive in a complete state and right on time.
Gears of War: E-Day Needs to Materialize Faster Than Recent Xbox Games
Several Recent Xbox Games Took a Long Time in Development
If the development process of several recent andupcoming Xbox gameshas told any story, it’s that ambitious projects often take significant time and effort to bring them to life. More specifically, theFableandPerfect Darkreboots,Everwild, andAvowedhave all taken their sweet time getting here, though for absolutely understandable reasons. Development for each of these games had to proceed through the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, which likely affected their timelines somewhat severely and largely tossed any concrete launch windows into the recycling bin. Nevertheless, they have taken quite some time to get here, and it has only felt longer as each game was announced years ago.
With its promises to bring the series back to its horror roots as it explores the most important event in its overarching narrative, there is far too much riding onGears of War: E-Dayto let it fizzle out as some other Xbox games have over the years.
Playground Games’Fablerebootwas announced in 2020, though initial development reportedly began sometime in 2018. WithFablenow confirmed to launch sometime in 2025, that comes out to be around 7 years since its development began and even 5 years since it was announced. ThePerfect Darkreboot, by The Initiative, has a similar story, in that development began for it around 2018 and the game was announced at the Game Awards in December 2020. It then didn’t receive its first gameplay trailer until the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024, and it still doesn’t have a concrete release date.
Rare’sEverwildhas been going through an even more tumultuous development cycle thanFableandPerfect Dark, having been announced during the XO19 event in November 2019 but only after already being in development for as many as 3 years prior. A secondtrailer forEverwildwas showcased at the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020, and while that seemed promising at first, the project was reportedly rebooted in 2021, and it still has no official release date to this day. Finally, Obsidian Entertainment’sAvowedwas revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 07, 2025, after being in development for a year, and it will only just now be launching in February 2025.
In short, each of these games has taken at least 5 years to materialize, with games likePerfect DarkandEverwildstill in limbo without release dates.
Gears of War: E-Day Needs to Arrive Sooner Rather Than Later
Fortunately, most of these other games that have taken quite a while to materialize were likely thrown for a loop by the global pandemic, which is something thatGears of War: E-Daylikely won’t be facing — hopefully. As such, it has a bit of an advantage here and may arrive much sooner than other titles likeFable(2025) andAvowed. That being said, it would nonetheless be disappointing for something to go awry in its development process or for some other variable to factor in that would slow things down for it.Gearsfans have arguably waited too long forthe story of Emergence Dayto be told in this way, soGears of War: E-Dayneeds to pull out all the stops to ensure it sees the light of day before it fades away into the darkness.
