Gears of War: E-Day will not include classic features such as using enemies as "meat shields" or chainsaw duels with Lancer assault rifles at its launch. The Coalition, the developer behind the prequel, stated in a blog post that these mechanics were not feasible for the initial release because the game was built from the ground up.
"We started E-Day with an empty hard drive building our entire gameplay sandbox from scratch to ensure a more unified gameplay experience across Campaign, PVE and PVP," The Coalition explained. "This new sandbox also allowed for innovation in cover, combat and enemies. The trade-off being that including every legacy feature from Gears of War was not possible for launch."
The developer indicated that efforts are underway to bring these features, along with Private Lobbies and leaderboards, to the game through post-launch updates or in a future title. E-Day's first season began with its Early Access release and will continue for eight weeks until December 1, including all launch maps, modes, and cosmetics, alongside three seasonal events: Halloween, 20 Years of Gears, and Thanksgibbing. Ranked modes are scheduled to arrive on October 13.
Changes have also been made to the Gnasher, Gears of War's signature shotgun. In prior installments, hip firing the Gnasher resulted in a blast in the direction the character was facing. For E-Day, this system will now combine camera aiming and muzzle position to provide players with greater control over shots.
This news follows recent staff reductions at Xbox, which included the story director for E-Day. Despite the decision to develop a prequel, Microsoft has committed to continuing the story of the Gears of War saga and resolving the cliffhanger from Gears 5. The realization of these future plans may depend on the commercial performance of E-Day, as reports suggest developers at The Coalition are concerned about potential further cuts following the game's release.