As per job listings on the Microsoft career page, The Coalition, the first-party Xbox studio responsible for the Gears of War franchise, is currently looking to fill several vacancies for the next Gears game. Some of these positions are quite high-pedigree, their job descriptions stating the responsibility of guiding important aspects of game creation from a fundamental and managerial level.
The latest uploaded position (July 21) was for a Senior Character Artist. This may not be a lead position, but it is still an imperative role that is advertised to make significant contributions to the creation of character art. Recent positions also include Lead Mission Designer and even Lead Narrative Designer. The latter, Lead Narrative Designer, was uploaded a few months ago, back in May 2022, however, it is still listed as an open full-time role, available on The Coalition’s website.
The Lead Mission Designer job posting lists responsibilities such as “lead the level design team through strong mentorship,” and “Shepherd campaign mission and level development from paper through completion.” It also speaks of developing roadmaps and estimates for the completion of these levels. Meanwhile, the Lead Narrative Designer will have the responsibility of “[Collaborating] with creative leadership to help define a compelling story,” and “create and maintain fun, playable experiences that connect gameplay systems, mission design and level design with storytelling moments.”
Gears of War is one of Xbox’s biggest and most important franchises. The beloved IP started in 2006 when the first game, of the same name, was released exclusively for the Xbox 360. This was developed by Epic Games back before Fortnite made it the publishing powerhouse it is today. Epic went on to make two more titles during the 360 era, but the IP was later purchased by Microsoft, and designated to The Coalition, who then went on to make Gears 4 and Gears 5 for the Xbox One. Gears 5, which came out in 2019, was well-received, so now, 3 years later, fans are hoping to at least hear about the next title in development.
The Coalition made it clear back in May 2021 via a press release on their website, that due to moving to Unreal Engine 5 being such a big undertaking, they wouldn’t be announcing anything for some time. These job postings now a year later, show that the next Gears project is still in relatively early stages.
No announcement timeline can be confirmed of course, as sometimes studios do announce games that haven’t been in development for long. However, looking for positions that involve completion roadmaps and mission design from inception to completion, as well as defining the game’s story and making sure it connects with all aspects of gameplay, does suggest the title’s release is still a way away.