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The Coalition is shifting new game development to Unreal Engine 5 & Xbox Series X

There are still some loose ends to tie up with Gears 5 on previous gen consoles and engines, but The Coalition is moving new projects into the next generation.

TJ Denzer

May 10, 2021 9:30 AM

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Gear of War is one of the most important titles of the Unreal Engine’s longstanding history as a graphics engine. With it, Gears ushered in a spectacle like we had never seen before back on the Xbox 360 and gave us a battle that has continued to provide some of the immense moments in gaming over the years. With Unreal Engine 5 coming up around the corner, it only makes sense that Gears studio The Coalition would want to put the franchise at the forefront of it. With that in mind, The Coalition announced that outside of further content for Gears 5, it’s shifting development of new titles to Unreal Engine 5 and the Xbox Series X.

The Coalition revealed this shift in engines and consoles in an announcement posted on the Gears 5 website on May 10, 2021. According to the announcement, The Coalition has a couple more rounds of content to wrap up in Gears 5. The developer revealed it will be continuing the Operations content packs, which have continued to include new characters and maps, through Operations 7 and 8.

Announcement: The Coalition Moving to Unreal Engine 5.

We wanted to update our fans on the journey ahead as we shift our resources to next-gen development: https://t.co/D2TY4xsyGO pic.twitter.com/HbVHhlfssy

— The Coalition Studio (@CoalitionGears) May 10, 2021

Outside of the aforementioned Operations packs for Gears 5, The Coalition claims this will be quite the transitional period for the studio as it aims to fully adopt the new Unreal Engine 5 and develop on the Xbox Series X.

With Epic Games getting Unreal Engine 5 ready for a full rollout this year, Fortnite was among the first projects getting a full makeover in the engine, but it makes sense that Gears of War would be the next notable franchise to follow up in such a manner. With that in mind, The Coalition doesn’t have any new projects to announce just yet. Stay tuned as we await what comes next from the Gears dev following the transition.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.