People Can Fly has revealed that they are a co-development partner for Gears of War: E-Day, working alongside series leads The Coalition on the prequel third person shooter.
The Polish studio has historic ties to the franchise, having been a co-development partner to Epic Games through the original Gears of War trilogy, before then becoming lead developer on Gears of War: Judgment.
Gears of War: E-Day will be a prequel to the series as a whole, set 14 years before the original and depicting the events of Emergence Day, where the Locust suddenly emerged from below the cities of Sera. Not only that, but it’s an origin story for the series’ most popular protagonist, Marcus Fenix, and his long-standing friendship with Dom, from the Pendulum Wars.
CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski said, “Returning to collaborate on the next chapter of this legendary saga is both a privilege and an exciting opportunity to build upon the intense, visceral action and rich storytelling that fans have come to love. We are deeply grateful for our partners’ trust and support on this journey.”
Guillaume Barry, Development Director at PCF added, “Our team at People Can Fly, made up of dedicated Gears of War fans, is pouring everything we have into creating an experience that will exceed expectations. While we can’t share more just yet, we’re eager for the day when we can show all the exciting things we’ve been working on.”
This announcement will be a boost for the studio, which has had a difficult time of late. In December, they laid off 120 employees from a headcount of around 700, reduced their self-publishing strategy and scaled back on several projects. As a publicly listed company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, being able to announce a steady gig like Gears of War: E-Day will no doubt be a boost to their profile – there was a healthy bump yesterday, though the stock’s trend has been downward since 2021.
That said, their partnership with Microsoft was already known, having confirmed work on a game codenamed Project Maverick back in 2023. This was already expected to be a Gears of War project, given those historic ties, but has now been made clear.
The one thing that isn’t clear is what this means for a Gears of War: E-Day release window. The game was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024, but has no release date announced and was absent from the Developer_Direct stream last week.
Source: People Can Fly
