The biggest week in gaming is almost here, so naturally, the floodgate of rumors have begun to pour in. From surprise sequels to the return of familiar franchises, players can expect a ton of titles to make an appearance. One of which appears to be Gears of War, which is rumored to have three new games shown off during Microsoft’s E3 press conference. One of these unannounced titles appears to be a battle royale version of Gears of War, which would mark Microsoft’s first foray into this genre with a first party series.
Keep in mind this is still very much a rumor and we cannot confirm the existence of a Gears of War battle royale mode.
However, the idea of a battle royale title set in this universe is out of sync with Microsoft’s comments on the genre in the past. In April of this year the head of Xbox – Phil Spencer – took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the creation of a BR game.
“Millions are playing BR games right now. I don’t want to just build one because others have built them. FNBR is massive, PUBG is huge, new BR variants being built by some very quality devs, I’d rather support unless we find something special in 1P that’s a different take.”
This was in response to whether battle royale was a “hot topic” for any first party developers. Assuming that a Gears of War BR game is more than just a PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds clone, it would be a big reveal for Microsoft. With Crackdown 3’s release still up in the air, Xbox desperately needs exclusives to show off this year. We already know there’s a high chance that Gears of War 5 is in development thanks to a job listing. Given Gears of War is a game built on its multiplayer, dropping 100 players into a Locust infested war zone could produce some unique scenarios.
If this game is in the works it will be critical for Microsoft to offer some mechanics to help distinguish itself from other titles in the genre. With the recent announcement of Call of Duty’s Blackout mode and Fortnite’s massive popularity, it will take a lot to really stand out in this already crowded genre. One way this could be achieved is by implementing a PvE aspect into the 100 man battle royale game. Horde mode has always been a standout experience for players, so combining elements of that could give Gears of War a needed edge.
Balance and content updates will also be critical, especially if this game plans to make use of Xbox’s Play Anywhere feature. PC users will almost always have an advantage against console players, so Microsoft may need to remove this feature for the sake of having fair matches. DLC is also going to be important since these games live and die by their updates.
With very little information all we can do is speculate and hope that a battle royale version of Gears of War is on the horizon. Microsoft’s E3 conference takes place on June 10 at 1 PM EST.