Gears of War: E-Day team on reworking the Locust, development pressure, and rebuilding the engine

The Coalition Studio Creative Director Matt Searcy and Gameplay Design Director Pax Lyle told Pure Xbox how they made the Locust frightening again, from stripping the Wretch's armour to giving it a shriek attack drawn from a Gears 1 cinematic and letting the Seeder flip out of the ground to grab players. Searcy said the project started from scratch on Unreal Engine 5, so chainsaw duels, meat shields, and frag tags did not make it in, though they could return later. E-Day entered premium early access on October 1 and comes to Ultimate and PC Game Pass on October 6 alongside its full release on Xbox Series X|S.