Prerelease:Gears of War 4

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Gears of War 4.

To do: Document changes in the MP beta. Try and find more concept art to see if there is any more changes or cut content Find out more about development

Development Timeline

2013

• Gears of War 4 starts the planning phase at Epic Games. During this phase, ideas such as Marcus' son JD Fenix, The Swarm, and the 25-year timeskip are created. After about six months, Epic pulls the plug on the idea.

2014

• January 27 - Microsoft purchases the Gears of War IP due to Epic Games "not really knowing what to do with the franchise" and enlists Black Tusk Studios, who had previously worked on Microsoft Flight, to begin production on their own Gears of War 4, with Rod Fergusson joining as head of the studio.
• Black Tusk is given access to all of Epic Games' development assets from the Gears of War franchise, including those for their cancelled Gears of War 4 pitch. Many ideas were reused from this phase and implemented in the final game.
• Black Tusk is renamed to The Coalition to better establish themselves as the new creators of Gears of War, very much like 343 Industries.
• Judging from some concept art, the game's working name at this point is "Gears of War Sparta".

2015

• June - A demo is shown at E3, showing a portion of Act 3-1, being much darker with a more horror-like aesthetic. The idea was to return to the franchise's "monster game" roots, as with Gears of War 3, the horror elements of the previous two games had largely faded away. This style was mostly absent from the final game. The demo also has some gameplay differences, such as the area where in final, Marcus gets kidnapped by a Snatcher in a pre-rendered cutscene, is instead a gameplay sequence where the Pouncer enemy is introduced.
• Splash Damage is hired as co-developer to work on the game's multiplayer aspects, after finishing work on Gears of War Ultimate Edition.

2016

• The Coalition now uses Microsoft's Cloud Computing for Horde Mode to calculate enemy spawns. Because of this, Horde is now unplayable offline.
• April 17 - Early Access to the multiplayer beta is given to those who purchased Gears of War Ultimate Edition.
• April 25 - The multiplayer beta is released to the public. Despite only being months away from release, the game is still heavily reusing assets from Gears of War 3 and Ultimate Edition. The game also has noticeably worse lighting than final.
• September 19 - Development wraps.
• October 11 - The game is released in most of the world.

2017

• May 25 - The game is released in Japan.

MP Beta

• The roadie run animation and camera shake are identical to Gears of War 3
• Boomshot reuses sound effects from Gears of War Ultimate Edition
• Hammerburst has a different firing sound.
• Lancer uses the Gears of War Ultimate Edition Icon
• Gnasher uses the Gears of War Ultimate Edition Icon
• There is no red filter on the screen after dying
• The lighting is considerably worse than final
• The map "Foundation" is set during an overcast sky, instead of sunset like final.
• The Gnasher's execution animation is re-used from Gears of War 3 and 2. The killfeed icon is the old one from Gears of War 1 instead of the new one which is odd as it is present in this version for other weapons.
• The Lancer has a different execution animation however it is not the Gears of War 3 one, and is not the final one.
• The Dropshot's ammo icon is the same as the Boomshot's
• Kate and Reyna use Anya's death and grunt sounds from Gears of War 3
• When obtaining a ribbon, the name is not in all caps like final.
• The Head icons are different from the final game. In final they are cropped images from the characters Character Card. Here they seem to be cropped from in game images.

Concept Art

DB Weapons

The original concept for the DB Robot guns are named "foam guns", which doesn't make very much sense since foam guns in real life are used for housekeeping. The concepts are for the following weapons from left to right: Enforcer (Rifle), Overkill (Foam Gun), EMBAR (Sniper).

• The Enforcer's first concepts are more of an Assault Rifle, the second concepts are now more of an SMG, one being based of the KRISS VECTOR Submachine Gun, and two being a top-fed SMG, which would be adapted to the final design. The top one resembles the SMG design from Halo 5.
• The Overkill has a drum magazine here, the final design is a top-fed magazine like the Enforcer. The back half of the weapon seems to be mostly like final and resembles the Enforcer quite heavily, however the gun isn't as blocky or wide as final.
• The EMBAR had a scope originally, which was cut most likely to make it more unique. Most of the designs are of a bull-pup design with a magazine at the back. The final is a top fed magazine.

Flame Turret

Among concepts for Sentry and Shock turrets, which made it in final, there is one for a Flmaethrower turret. It most likely would have worked similarly to the Scorcher gun from Gear 2 and 3 in turret form.

Mortar

A heavy weapon from Gears 2,3 and Judgment. It was scrapped in final however, parts of it were re-used for the Mortar Strike skill card in the final game's Horde Mode, and it has a complete model in the final game's files, suggesting it was removed in the mid-2016 phase of development.

Flare Gun

Some concepts of a flare gun. It's not exactly obvious what this would be used for, but my guess is that it would essentially be a gun version of the Incendiary Grenade.

Swarm

Many 2014 era concepts for the Swarm enemies from Guy Davis. The designs here are far more unique than the final game's retread of the Locust with some slight changes, however these designs are pretty questionable with some looking like dinosaurs or borderline aliens. Strangely, the game is referred to as "Gears of War: Sparta" at the bottom of most of these images, it could possibly be a codename for the game.

• The first one is probably the most bizzare of all, showing the second and "final stage" of a Swarm Drone. This and the 6th image make it seem like Swarm Drones were to be an entirely different kind of enemy instead of in final where they are basically just Locust Drones.
• The second, third, fourth, and fith ones all show concepts for the "Swarm Mirror". It Seems this is a separate enemy from the Swarm Drone as the concepts are entirely different looking. The second shows concepts for a "Swarm Mirrors" ability to extend claws from its chest. Nothing like that appears in final.
• The sixth image shows the newborn stage of a Swarm Drone, looking far more skeleton-like than the final, which is basically just a naked Drone with white, moist skin.
• The seventh image shows a concept for a "mirror" pulling back his mandibles to reveal his mogging jawline.
• The Last image is not from Guy Davis and shows an enemy that is most likely a concept for the Scion enemy due to the crystals on his back and Locust similarities.

3D Models

Booshka

A Grenade Launcher from Gears of War Judgment. The sound effects for the Booshka's grenade bouncing were re-used for the Dropshot's projectile bouncing in the final game

Markza Sniper

An iron-sight version of this sniper with a shorter barrel from Gears of War Judgment was used in final, most likely to make it harder to use.

Mortar

A model of the cut Mortar weapon.

Pifler Ammo Clip

These do not appear in the game at all.

Locust Ammo Box

The name makes it seems this was meant for the Anvil Gate section in the prologue, as the Locust obviously don't appear in the game's main campaign. However it uses a new design instead of the Gears of War 3 design.

Swarm

Some 3D model concepts of Swarm enemies from Andrew Baker, showing a much different, more alien design from the concept art.