Next Gears of War game in the works according to new job listings
And hints from series veteran Joshua Ortega.
New job listings posted by Gears of War studio The Coalition indicate the developer is in the process of ramping up production on a new title in the long-running shooter series.
That the studio specifically set up to make new Gears games might be working on a new Gears game isn't news in itself, of course, but The Coalition has been pretty quiet since its last major release, Gears 5 in 2019. It had a hand in 2020's Gears Tactics and The Matrix Awakens in 2021, but there's been scant word of any major new Gears projects from the studio in that time.
First hints that Gears 6 might finally be on the way came from Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb in February, who claimed The Coalition had ditched two unannounced projects amid Microsoft's Xbox layoffs to focus on a new entry in the flagship series - and now, new job listings posted on The Coalition's website lend credence to that report.
The studio is currently hiring for 13 senior roles on an unnamed Gears of War project, including a lead mission designer to focus on "campaign missions and levels", plus a senior multiplayer designer focusing on "modes and features". The scope of the job listings - which also include requests for candidates with expertise in the likes of AI systems - make it pretty likely The Coalition is staffing up to work on a major new title in the series.
All this is further compounded by a recent tweet from Gears of War veteran Joshua Ortega - who's been heavily involved with the series since Gears of War 2 - saying "Once again it's on!" above a breakdown of his previous work on the franchise (thanks GamesRadar).
The suggestion, of course, is that it's still early days for The Coalition's new Gears project, whatever it ends up being, but it's a clear sign Microsoft is readying to bring the series back to life in a big way, particularly with a Gears of War movie and TV series also in the works at Netflix.