Gears of War has been dormant for a fair while. The last mainline game in Xbox’s much-beloved third-person shooter series was 2019’s Gears 5. Developer The Coalition also put out the strategy game Gears Tactics alongside Splash Damage in 2020, but in terms of a new shooter, things have been quiet for almost half a decade. That might be changing soon, as a tweet from one of the series’ voice actors is hinting at a new Gears of War announcement this summer.
Liam McIntyre, the actor who plays Gears of War 4 protagonist and Gears 5 supporting character JD Fenix, posted on X (formerly Twitter) about entering the X-Men ‘97 Xbox sweepstakes to try to win an X-Men-themed Xbox. A fan responded by asking about JD’s fate in the Gears of War story, referring to his possible death in Gears 5, depending on player choice. The question was if JD’s death would be “canon” in the Gears universe, in response to which McIntyre (perhaps accidentally) teased that news about the next game may be coming in June.
“I have no idea,” the actor tweeted. “I think @GearsofWar tells us all in June. :)”
Based on his knowing this unannounced detail, it sounds like McIntyre might be doing work on the next Gears of War, which likely means JD will be alive in some capacity (unless he appears in flashbacks). If JD is the character Coalition moves forward with, that likely means Delmont Walker—the other ally the player has to choose whether or not to save in Gears 5—might not be in future games at all. Or perhaps the game will split into two different realities. Or maybe McIntyre is just hoping he’s got a gig coming up.
Ideally, future Gears games would let the player pick who they chose to survive at the beginning of the game and have one or the other show up, so the entire choice isn’t wiped away. Something like how Mass Effect 2 and 3 had either Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams continue to play a part in the story depending on what the player did in the first Mass Effect.
Whatever the case, if JD is in the next Gears in some capacity, it sounds like it will be a proper sequel rather than the reboot original lead Cliff Bleszinski thinks the series might need. It sounds like all those questions might be answered in June. A Summer Game Fest reveal, perhaps?
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