Summary
- Gears of War: E-Day surprised fans at Xbox's Showcase with its prequel storyline, generating buzz for the franchise.
- Rumors suggest E-Day could be the biggest Gears of War release yet, possibly coming to PlayStation in addition to Xbox and PC.
- Xbox's exclusivity may be hindering Gears of War's potential and a PlayStation port for E-Day could benefit the franchise's long-term success.
Back at the start of June, Xbox held its annual Summer Showcase, and this year's may have been the most impressive in the gaming company's long history. While the entire Xbox Showcase was packed with phenomenal reveals, a key stand out for many fans was Gears of War: E-Day, acting as the showcase's "one more thing" announcement. While many fans expected a new Gears of War game to show up at Xbox's Showcase, few expected it to be a prequel, and that layer of surprise has already given the game some real buzz.
Gears of War: E-Day is already set to be a pretty huge release, but if recent rumors are true, then it could end up being the biggest entry in franchise history. Back in July, a job listing for E-Day's developer, The Coalition, asked for someone with experience working with PSN as well as Xbox Live and Steam. Some fans believed this job listing hinted that Gears of War: E-Day could come to PlayStation as well as PC and Xbox, and the rumor sprouted from there. As far as gaming rumors go, this one is particularly unfounded, but Gears of War: E-Day coming to PlayStation might actually be a great idea.
Gears of War: E-Day Could Benefit From a Simultaneous Launch on PlayStation
The Gears of War Franchise Has Been Out of the Spotlight For a While Now
The last mainline Gears of War entry was released back in September 2019, almost five years ago. While Gears 5 earned a decent critical reception across the board – currently sitting at an 82-84 on Metacritic depending on the platform – its sales were a little lower than some of the entries before it. And despite being Microsoft's most successful launch since 2012's Halo 4, Gears 5's launch wasn't really met with the pomp and fanfare that earlier entries in the series received. It was clear that Gears of War didn't quite have that X factor anymore.
Even at its peak, the Gears of War franchise never truly stood as tall as Halo, or as any of Nintendo or PlayStation's biggest flagship franchises. The original Gears of War trilogy was instrumental in showcasing the technical prowess of the Xbox 360, and they all helped to bolster an impressive first-party line-up, but in being an "ol' reliable" for Xbox, Gears of War was never able to gain more attention elsewhere. So now that the Gears of War franchise doesn't have quite as big of a following as it once did, its exclusivity might actually be holding it back, and it might be time for that to change.
Gears of War: E-Day Should Cast As Wide of a Net As Possible
Though the Gears of War franchise is far from dead, and Gears of War: E-Day is sure to be a sizable success regardless, it might still be a smart move on Microsoft's part to release the game on PlayStation. Delivering a PlayStation port of Gears of War: E-Day would bring the franchise into more hands than ever before, and there's no better entry to do that with than a prequel set before the events of the rest of the franchise.
Going hand-in-hand with this notion is Xbox's recent strategy regarding platform exclusivity. Earlier this year, first-party titles like Pentiment, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves all came to PlayStation, and some even made their way to Nintendo Switch. Though fans don't know if these first-party ports were successful by Microsoft's requirements, they had some pretty impressive sales figures, which suggests that more first-party ports could be on the cards in Xbox's future, maybe even including Gears of War: E-Day. While it makes sense that fans want their Xbox exclusives to remain exclusive, a PlayStation port could be the best thing for Gears of War: E-Day and the long-term success of the franchise.
- Developer(s)
- The Coalition
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- Gears of War
WHERE TO PLAY
The Story of E-Day
Fourteen years before Gears of War, war heroes Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago return home to face a new nightmare: the Locust Horde. These subterranean monsters, grotesque and relentless, erupt from below, laying siege on humanity itself. New Foundations
Built from the ground up with Unreal Engine 5, Gears of War: E-Day delivers unprecedented graphical fidelity.
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter
