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Two Halo characters are joining ‘Gears 5’
Thirteen years into their shared history, you would think Halo and Gears of War would have already crossed over before today. After all, following Microsoft's purchase of the Gears franchise in 2014, the two properties are the company's biggest and most important exclusives. So it's a bit strange to see it's not Master Chief, Halo's main hero, joining the fight against the Gear's Locust villains. Instead, it's two characters from 2010's Halo: Reach.
'Gears of War' is getting its own PC-only tactics game
While all eyes were on Microsoft's E3 stage for its expected announcement of Gears of War 5, the publisher also introduced a pair of new games in the franchise: A Funko Pop-branded mobile title and a turn-based tactics game. Unfortunately, we don't know much about the aptly-titled Gears Tactics -- except that it will come exclusively to PC.
'Gears of War 5' is coming to Xbox in 2019
Gears of War has been a stalwart of the Microsoft Xbox library since its first iteration debuted in 2006. And now we're getting a new one, Microsoft announced at its E3 2018 press conference on Sunday. Say hello to Gears 5.
‘Gears of War’ heads to mobile with a Funko Pop art style
Gears of War. But with Funko Pops. Yeah, really. It's a mobile game that will launch sometime next year. Honestly, I'm lost for words.
Live from Xbox's E3 2018 press conference!
Last year Microsoft admitted that exclusive games were thin on the ground, so what does it have to show for it at E3 2018? (Well, beside no Crackdown 3?) Rumors suggest we could see more Forza Horizon and Gears of War news -- and hey, let's not discount the chance of a Halo appearance. The big show kicks off at 1PM PT / 4PM ET later today. Join us for liveblog coverage!
Watch Microsoft's E3 keynote right here at 4PM ET
It's time to find out what Microsoft has been up to with Xbox since last E3. We're on the scene in downtown LA already, but for everyone else not in Southern California, you can watch the show via the stream embedded below starting at 4PM Eastern. And be sure to follow along with our liveblog for our commentary! Will any of the rumors prove true? Will we see a new entry in the Halo series? Or maybe another Gears of War or Forza Horizon? A resurrected Scalebound? The latter is almost guaranteed to no happen, but for everything else, there's only one way to find out: watching along live.
Run the Jewels' video game tour continues in 'FIFA 18'
Killer Mike and El-P, collectively known as Run the Jewels, are no strangers to video games. Previously they appeared in Gears of War 4 as multiplayer characters, and now the duo are lending their talents to FIFA 18. Or, at least, their iconography. You can outfit your virtual footballer in kit featuring the group's trademark fist and gun logo on a teal jersey reminiscent of the album art for Run the Jewels 3, and there's also a black variant. More than that, the soundtrack features and exclusive track from the group, "Mean Demeanor."
Microsoft expects consumers to 'figure out' which Xbox is which
The best way to keep a job as a marketer is to never go off message. And that's precisely what happened when I interviewed Xbox's head of console marketing Albert Penello on our E3 stage this week. Though he was more than happy to talk about the Xbox One X's tech specs and the impact of 4K gaming, asking harder questions about Xbox as an organization yielded a lot of non-answers. Still, there were a few tells.
Gears of War 4' retools its Horde mode in time for summer
Gears of War 4 dropped last October with more story, kinetic sound and a revamped version of its signature players-vs-AI Horde mode. Microsoft Game Studios has continued to refine the game in the months since to keep multiplayer fresh, from punishing rage-quitters to inexplicable DLC with rap duo Run The Jewels. But new gratis content is on the horizon: On June 6th, players get more goodies, maps and difficulty levels for Horde mode, along with a free trial for players on Xbox One or PC who haven't yet tried the title out.
'Gears 4' updated with new maps, support for multiple GPUs
It's taken a while since Gears of War 4's October debut, but Microsoft has finally added an often-requested feature for PC gamers: SLI support. That way they can take advantage of multiple GPUs to render the game at its maximum quality, instead of leaving silicon sitting unused. There's also a new map in the update called Dawn, and the return of a Gears of War 2 favorite: Security. Of course, competitors can take each other on via PC or Xbox and with the new multiple GPU support (make sure you have the latest drivers from AMD or NVIDIA) there's just one more reason to try it on the PC side. The update should roll out May 2nd.
'Gears of War 4' makes cross-platform multiplayer official
Last December Microsoft tried out something it hadn't done in quite awhile: adversarial cross-platform multiplayer. For a single weekend, there was a test between folks playing against each other in Gears of War 4 on PC and Xbox One. Now, that's moving from a beta to an official release. Before you reach for the pitchforks, though, this is only for the brawny shooter's (unranked) Social Quickplay mode. From a post on the Windows 10 blog:
'Gears of War 4' will punish rage quitters
Rage quitting isn't just a problem in fighting games. There's a good chance you've played shooters where teammates drop the very second it looks like they'll lose, dooming your team to defeat. And The Coalition wants to do something about it in Gears of War 4. The developer is rolling out Title Update 3 in January, and it'll introduce the first phase of efforts to punish those who bail prematurely. If a player quits a Core or Competitive round, they'll face a temporary matchmaking ban to "discourage drop out behavior" -- and the more they do it, that longer that ban persists. Moreover, Squads with a suspended player won't be allowed to do matchmaking until the offending player's penalty is over.
'Gears of War 4' marks the holidays with snowball fights
Destiny and Overwatch don't have a lock on over-the-top holiday gaming modes. Gears of War 4 just got a 99-cent Gearsmas Pack that adds some cheer to a mostly grim and dark game. The centerpiece is a special multiplayer event, Snowball Fight, where you have to fling snowballs at rivals using a custom Snowshot weapon. Akin to a real fight, you can't just reload -- you have to scoop up more snow ammo once you've run out of what little you have. There are also three ugly sweater-clad characters (JD, Kait and a Swarm Drone) and 24 holiday-themed weapon skins. Gearsmas lasts until January 4th, so you'll want to act soon if you're going to show off.
'Gears of War 4' gets cross-platform multiplayer this weekend
Since the dawn of time, comment sections have had vicious debates on which gamers own the superior platform. This weekend, Microsoft are giving them the opportunity to put their K/D where their mouths are. Between December 2nd and December 5th, Microsoft will be trialing cross-platform competitive play on Gears of War 4 allowing PC and Xbox One players to duke it out.
Gun through 'Gears of War 4' as Run The Jewels in new DLC
Earlier today, the acclaimed rap pair Run The Jewels announced a new single "Panther Like A Panther (I'm The Shit)" that played in a trailer for Gears of War 4's revamped horde co-op mode. Not long after, another video debuted showing both members of the group, Killer Mike and El-P, as playable characters available in new DLC for the third-person monster shooter.
The Morning After Weekend Edition: Happy Halloween!
Letter from the Editor Change is life. It's what keeps things interesting. It's also what keeps the cauldron of commerce at a full boil. And in the technology industry, change is constant. This week, Apple and Microsoft revealed new computers that'll tempt many — particularly folks working in the creative arts — even if they come with eye-watering price tags.
Microsoft Research helped 'Gears of War 4' sound so good
Popping in and out of cover has been a hallmark of the Gears of War franchise since the first game came out in 2006. It hasn't changed much because it didn't need to. What's always been an issue though is how thin the game sounds -- a shortcoming of the underlying tech, Unreal Engine, powering it. But Microsoft owns the series now and has far more money to throw at it than former owners/Unreal Engine creators Epic Games did. With help from Microsoft Research, Redmond's Gears of War factory The Coalition found a high tech way to fix that problem. It's called Triton. Two years ago Microsoft Research's Nikunj Raghuvanshi and John Snyder presented a paper (PDF) titled "Parametric Wave Field Coding for Precomputed Sound Propagation." The long and short of the research is that it detailed how to create realistic reverb effects based on objects in a video game's map, to hear it in action pop on a pair of headphones and watch the video below.
'Gears of War' is headed to the silver screen
Today Microsoft has announced that it's partnering with Universal Pictures to bring Gears of War's hulking soldiers and massive monsters to the big screen. There's no word on casting yet, but there is some information about who will be on the other side of the camera. Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark (Ted and the recent Planet of the Apes movies) will produce, and... well, that's about all that's known.
20-minute 'Gears 4' prologue playthrough looks very familiar
Even the most dedicated Gears of War fan might need a refresher course ahead of the franchise's fourth numbered sequel. And that's precisely what the new video from the developers at The Coalition is all about. What's more, it's direct feed footage of the first section of the game, aptly titled "Prologue." So, you can see exactly what sorts of trouble you'll be getting into in a few weeks.
'Gears of War 4' Horde 3.0 trailer has a Run the Jewels twist (updated)
Gears of War 4 features Horde 3.0, an updated version of the series' classic five-player co-op mode, and today fans got the first taste of its gameplay with a bonus helping of hip hop courtesy of Run the Jewels. First, the gameplay: Horde 3.0 pits five players against swarms of enemies and has new features such as character classes and defensive structures. The new mode offers five character variations (Soldier, Sniper, Scout, Heavy and Engineer) and new enemies like the Swarm and DeeBees. The "Fabricator" is a mobile base that players can deploy anywhere on the map.
