The Coalition has been working on the Gears of War franchise for a decade now, with the 2015 remaster Gears of War: Ultimate Edition being the studio’s first project following its rename from Black Tusk Studios two months earlier. Since then, The Coalition has worked on four other Gears of War projects, with its fifth, Gears of War: E-Day, currently in the works. But The Coalition has had some help along the way.
Since becoming the de facto head of the Gears of War franchise, The Coalition has worked alongside at least two other studios, with Mediatonic helping to create Gears Pop! in 2019, and Splash Damage helping to make Gears Tactics in 2020. The Coalition’s recent pattern of co-development is going to continue with Gears of War: E-Day, with developer People Can Fly confirmed to be working on the upcoming prequel. People Can Fly has a pretty solid track record in the gaming industry, and its involvement in Gears of War: E-Day could lead to a unique opportunity for the franchise.
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The Argument for Gears of War: E-Day to Feature a Playable Locust Campaign
While Gears of War: E-Day’s story is likely to be compelling enough, there remains a valid argument for it to feature a playable Locust campaign.
Gears of War: E-Day Should Get a VR Companion Game
People Can Fly’s VR Track Record
While Polish studio People Can Fly got its start in the industry by producing the 2004 FPS Painkiller, it spent most of its early years working alongside Epic Games. People Can Fly worked on the PC port of the original Gears of War, and it helped Epic Games to produce Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment, and Fortnite‘s Save the World component.
After a brief stint with Square Enix that resulted in the release of 2021’s Outriders, People Can Fly switched gears, turning its attention to the world of VR. In 2022, People Can Fly’s Incuvo studio produced the VR version of Green Hell, a survival game originally created by developer Creepy Jar in 2019. People Can Fly’s most recent release was 2024’s Bulletstorm VR, giving the 2011 Sci-Fi shooter a virtual reality makeover.
Green Hell VR received fairly decent review scores, with many outlets commending the game’s implementation of survival mechanics in a VR world. Bulletstorm VR, on the other hand, was met with a more divisive reception due to missing content from the original 2011 release and some technical issues, but its post-launch updates have helped to turn things around.
People Can Fly Should Make a VR Tie-In for Gears of War: E-Day
Based on the official partnership announcement, it seems as though People Can Fly is working solely on co-developing Gears of War: E-Day. But there’s an opportunity for People Can Fly to draw on its past experiences and produce a really unique Gears of War: E-Day companion piece.
While Xbox doesn’t currently have any VR projects of its own, the company’s latest strategy is to put its first-party games on more platforms. There are already rumors that Xbox could be bringing Gears of War to PlayStation soon, and it could crack open that floodgate first with a VR Gears of War game developed by People Can Fly, potentially in partnership with a platform like Meta. This hypothetical Gears VR game could act as a companion story to E-Day, focusing on a different set of COG soldiers as they battle the Locust armies bursting out of the ground.
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