Hardly a day goes by without a new story focused on lootbox or microtransation drama dropping and the gaming landscape is quickly trying to shift to make sure upcoming titles aren't bogged down by those problems. Gears of War 5 is certainly no exception and the team behind the game is taking some time months before its launch to clarify how multiplayer fans will be able to unlock content.

There's a lot to unpack here, but the main highlights are that Gears of War 5 will feature no season pass, no Gears Packs, and all DLC maps will be free for matchmaking and private play. There will be exclusive earnable content in the all-new Tour of Duty system.

In addition to all of that good news, all store purchases are direct, no RNG so you always know what you will get. Sounds like another franchise that is taking a firm stance to distance itself from lootboxes.

TOUR OF DUTY – EARNABLE CONTENT

We’ve committed to delivering more earnable content than ever before through an extensive new system called Tour of Duty. You take on Daily Challenges and seasonal Medals to rank up and earn customization content (including character skins).

The path to each piece of content earnable is clear – you will know what you need to do to earn each specific customization item. In addition, there is no ‘Premium’ pay-only content for Tour Of Duty.

Tour of Duty will also run in a seasonal format, delivering brand new content and challenges to chase every season.

In addition to Tour of Duty, you’ll also directly earn rewards in other ways, such as leaderboard placements in Escape or Versus.

SUPPLY – FREE CONTENT FOR PLAYING

With Supply Drops, every minute you play (across every multiplayer mode) contributes towards a random item drop from a unique pool of content we call Supply.

If you draw a duplicate card, we’ll automatically turn it into Scrap. Scrap can be spent on crafting Supply items you don’t have or character skills you want to upgrade.

Supply Drops and Supply Drop Content cannot be purchased with real-world money.

PURCHASABLE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

Exclusive customization content can be bought with a premium in-game currency called Iron. Iron is purchased with real world currency.

You will also be able to earn a limited amount of Iron through each Tour of Duty to spend in content in the Store.

Content found in the store is direct purchase, meaning what you see is what you get. No Gear Packs, no randomness.

We are committed to ensuring we preserve a fair competitive environment across our modes, so there will be no items in the store that provide a competitive advantage for real-money purchasers, i.e. no pay to win.

BOOST

Boost is a new optional purchasable in Gears 5 that provides accelerated progression for a period of real-world time (e.g. 1 Day, 7 Days, etc.).

Boost offers the following benefits:

Double Multiplayer XP

Double Character XP for Escape & Horde

Double speed Supply Drop Progression

Boost is not required to earn or unlock any content.

This all sounds like great news for Gears fans and we look forward to seeing if other first-party Microsoft projects take a similar stance when it comes to additional game content.

Be sure to check back for more Gears 5 news and updates as we get closer to the game's September release.

Gears of War 5 releases on September 10th on Xbox One.

Source: Gears of War