In the 2024 Xbox Showcase, The Coalition unveiled the next entry in the Gears of War franchise: Gears of War: E-Day. It was confirmed that E-Day is not a spinoff like Gears of War: Judgment or Gears Tactics but rather the next mainline entry in the Gears of War series. As its title suggests, E-Day is a prequel set 14 years before the first Gears of War and will focus on Emergence Day, the beginning of the Locust War on Sera. Despite fans' excitement with a return to the classic duo of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, Gears of War: E-Day continues to leave the present-day story from Gears 5 high and dry.

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New Gears of War Game is a Prequel With Young Marcus and Dom

Microsoft caps off the Xbox Games Showcase event with the reveal of the next main series Gears of War game.

The Fallout of Gears of War 4 and Gears 5

In 2016, The Coalition continued the Gears of War storyline with Gears of War 4 set 25 years after the end of Gears of War 3 and the end of the Locust War and Lambent Pandemic. The new conflict appeared to be an underdog story of people striving to become free from the tyrannical Coalition of Ordered Governments and their army of DeeBees following the war. However, it quickly turned into a renewed war against the Locust.

Instead of completely dying at the end of Gears of War 3 , the Locust went into a chrysalis form and turned into a new, evolved form called the Swarm that began kidnapping and mutating humans into their ranks.

This war continued in Gears 5 and focused on the new, young trio of JD Fenix, Del Walker, and Kait Diaz. While Fenix was the protagonist of Gears of War 4, Gears 5 focused primarily on Diaz as Gears of War 4 revealed that she was the granddaughter of the Locust Queen Myrrah. Diaz learns more about her family’s past and connections with the Locust origins in Gears 5 as the remaining humans and COG military struggle to survive against the Swarm.

The Cliffhanger of Gears 5

Gears 5 ends with the majority of Hammer of Dawn beacons being destroyed and the resurrected, Queen Myrrah-possessed body of Diaz’s mother Reyna Diaz confronting Kait Diaz. JD and Del attempt to save Diaz but are choked by her mother. The player is left with a choice to either save JD or Del, with Reyna killing the other.

This choice causes slight changes to the end of Gears 5, with most characters mourning both deaths, but Marcus suffers more from his son JD’s death than Del’s. The game ends with COG survivors defeating the Kraken and vying to kill Reyna and the Swarm before they can cause any more harm.

While the Locust’s origins were hinted at in Gears of War 2 , they were fully revealed to be COG Imulsion and Rustlung experiments in Gears 5 .

The Future of Gears 6 May Rest with Gears of War: E-Day

While fans may have to wait longer to learn what the canonical ending of Gears 5 is and see the Swarm conflict possibly end in Gears 6, E-Day may introduce some plotlines that could tie into it. With E-Day set at the beginning of the Locust War, The Coalition may focus more on the origins of the Locust and the long-term machinations of Queen Myrrah. This may be told through collectibles’ descriptions or direct campaign storylines.

E-Day may show the early life of Reyna Diaz and how she and her father, Doctor Torres, reacted to Locust society and their war on humanity. Reyna is expected to be around 30 years old by Emergence Day and one year later, her father would be killed by Ukkon, the lead scientist of the Locust Horde. Reyna was later rescued by her future husband, Gabriel Diaz, as seen in Gears Tactics. Doctor Torres may have left a device or a method to truly destroy the Locust and the Swarm during his travels with Reyna; likewise, Marcus and Dom may stumble upon this in E-Day and have it be a future MacGuffin in Gears 6.

Gears of War: E-Day Can’t Abandon Gears 5’s Cliffhanger

An official Gears 6 is likely many years away, leaving fans of the young trio frustrated that their story will remain incomplete nearly five years later and beyond. In any case, Gears of War: E-Day will hopefully lay the groundwork for events in both the original Gears of War trilogy as well as Gears of War 6.