Set on the fictional planet of Sera, the “Gears of War” series charts the story of humanity’s struggle against fearsome and brutal adversaries through a captivating tale of hope, comradery and survival.

After narrowly escaping an attack on their village, JD Fenix and his friends, Kait and Del, must rescue the ones they love and discover the source of a monstrous new enemy. “Gears of War 4” returns the franchise to the dark tone and intensity of the original and includes split-screen and online co-op, the next generation of five-player favorite, Horde Mode, 60 frames-per-second Versus multiplayer, and stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine 4.

The time is almost here. This week at PAX, we’ll be lifting the curtain on the next evolution of Horde mode arriving in Gears of War 4 – we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on.

Gears of War 4 is taking over the PAX Arena with live gameplay at PAX!

On Friday September 2, tune in to see the world debut of a brand new Versus Multiplayer mode in Gears of War 4 – Arms Race. What’s Arms Race? Well that would spoil the fun now, wouldn’t it? This special event is ‘For The Watch’, a running gag between Penny Arcade’s Gabe and Tycho where they battle it out for the honor of taking home the fabled watch. 

Then on Saturday, prepare for an overload of Horde 3.0 gameplay in a very special race to be First to 50! We’ve invited guests from Xbox and two superstar squads to compete for the honor of being the first team to survive 50 brutal waves of the all-new Horde mode for Gears of War 4. Captained by GoldGlove and FemSteph, each squad will be composed of star Gears players, including Actabunnifoofoo, SoVindictive, GuyBlaze, VernNotice, Falloutt, ImCoty, LucyMaeGames and Crream). This isn’t an event you’ll want to miss and fans in attendance will also receive an exclusive, limited edition Horde 3.0 Poster designed by Tony Moore (known for his award-winning artistry in The Walking Dead comic series). 

If you’re at the show, head on over to the PAX Arena to join the fun in our live audience. There’ll also be some special giveaway swag on offer including:

• Friday: T-Shirts, Pins and Physical Card Packs
• Saturday: T-Shirts, Pins, Physical Gear Packs and a special Tony Moore poster

Saturday is also a great opportunity to come and talk to the myriad of developers from The Coalition who will be in attendance for First to 50. We’d love to meet you!

Finally, on Sunday fans are invited to sign up as teams of five to survive 10 waves of Horde on the PAX Stage for prizes. Teams who survive the first 10 waves can then make the decision to take the prize – or put it all on the line for a chance to win an even better prize by completing the next 10 waves of Horde as a team. Prizes will also differ based on the difficulty selected by each team.

All the action will be streamed on Twitch live. Add these dates and times to your calendars to make sure you don’t miss a beat:

• Friday September 2, from 6:30pm – 9:30pm PDT
• Saturday September 3, from 6:30pm PDT onwards
• Sunday, September 4, from 6:30pm – 9:30pm PDT

PAX ATTENDEES

If you’ve secured your PAX West ticket, Horde 3.0 is waiting for you on the show floor! You’ll get 30 minutes to try and beat 10 waves of Horde 3.0 on Normal Difficulty with 4 squad mates, along with a coach from The Coalition to help you make the most of your time.

Every time you complete your Horde session at our booth, you’ll also walk away with one of our awesome Physical Gear Packs which unlock in-game content (and make for a great Gears collectible too!). We’ll also be giving away one of two unique pins every day of the show – keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter to find out more.

Head to the PAX Arena to really put your Horde skills to the test. The PAX Arena is the only place where you can take on the Swarm on Hardcore difficulty – be one of the first teams to beat all 10 waves within the allotted time, and you’ll walk away with some special Gears of War merchandise! Grab your friends and bring them to the Arena to see if you’re up for the challenge.

There’s also some additional Gears action to be found on the show floor thanks to our friends at Nvidia and Alienware. Head to their booth to play Gears of War 4 for Windows 10 in stunning 4K resolution, and battle the Swarm in a section of the campaign set during a Windflare. (Tip – Don’t throw grenades against the wind!).

Key Features:

• New Story, Heroes and a Nightmare Reborn: The first chapter of an all-new “Gears” saga thrusts players into an epic and perilous journey through the wilds of Sera. Fight as JD Fenix – son of the legendary hero Marcus Fenix – as he embarks on a desperate mission with his friends Kait and Del to find their missing loved ones and confront a fearsome new threat.
• Never Fight Alone: Rev up your Lancer and fight your way through the Campaign with a friend over Xbox Live or via local split screen co-op, with the option to play as JD, Kait or Del. Cross Play lets Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers play together in cooperative modes like Campaign, Horde and Co-Op Versus.
• Shared Progression and Achievements with Xbox Play Anywhere across Xbox One and Windows 10: Cloud saves enable you to switch seamlessly between both versions of game, giving you the freedom to play where you choose. Both versions are included with a single purchase.
• Fight through a Dynamic and Deadly Environment: Brace yourself against ferocious windflares that blow away cover, bend your shots and drastically alter the battlefield, forcing you to employ new tactics. As the windflare intensity increases, each enemy confrontation evolves into a brutal fight for survival in this tale of Man vs. Monster.
• New Arsenal of Weapons and Combat Tactics: Pummel your enemies from cover with new close-cover combat moves like yank, vault kick and a bloody new combat-knife execution. Make use of dangerous new weapons, like the Buzzkill and Dropshot, to shoot around and over cover, raining destruction from all angles.
•  The Best “Gears” Multiplayer Experience Yet: Whether you enjoy powering through the co-op Campaign, fending for survival in Horde mode or testing your skills in frenetic Versus Multiplayer matches running in 60 FPS on dedicated servers, “Gears of War 4” is the ultimate game to play with friends.
  • Explosive Versus Multiplayer Action: Compete in intense multiplayer gametypes that reward social, competitive and professional players alike, including new modes like Dodgeball and the premier new competitive “Gears” multiplayer mode, Escalation. Track your progress with the new visible ranking system that drives online matchmaking and lets you stand out for your abilities.  
  • The Next Generation of Horde: Team up with up to four other players and weather the onslaught using class-based skills and dynamic fortifications. For the first time, you can build and deploy defensive weapons and fortifications anywhere on the map.
  • Play with Friends Against AI Foes: Fine-tune your skills in Co-Op Versus, where your match-made team of five squares off against increasingly punishing AI teams.
• The Complete “Gears of War” Collection: For a limited time, “Gears of War 4” (both digital and retail versions) will include the entire Xbox 360 “Gears of War” collection. Play through the original “Gears of War” trilogy and “Gears of War: Judgment” on Xbox One via backwards compatibility, amounting to over 50 hours of “Gears of War” gameplay.