Bulletstorm and Painkiller devs People Can Fly to co-develop Gears of War: E-Day, following spate of layoffs and cancellations last year

Painkiller, Bulletstorm, and Outriders studio People Can Fly will be co-developing Gears Of War: E-Day, the upcoming shooter in the long-running series of games about large men doing large violence at large bugs from behind medium walls. This is good news! People Can Fly have a pedigree for serving chunky gun chutney with a smile. They’ve also worked extensively on the series before, notably Judgement Day. E-Day itself is aiming to have a pronounced horror slant, with the ‘Emergence Day’ of the title referring to the insectoid Locust’s first visit above ground.

This is good news, also, because last year was a fraught one for People Can Fly. Back in January, we learned from an email obtained by Kotaku that the Polish studio were laying off 30 people, alongside 20 people being moved from an unannounced Square Enix project named Gemini. They cancelled another project – a co-op action RPG named Project Dagger – in April. Last December, they parted wallets with a further 120 workers, shelved one project, and downsized another. “We are redoubling our efforts with new work for hire engagements and focusing on the development of a single independent game,” said chief executive officer Sebastian Wojciechowski at the time.

I’ve enjoyed every People Can Fly game I’ve played, including Outriders – an excellent shooter, albeit one buried under a clumpy mountain of pre-peed live service cat litter. As for E-Day, it’s primed to be a soft series reboot of sorts. “Gears of War: E-Day is not just our next major game; it’s a return to what makes Gears of War games special and authentic,” said The Coalition studio head Mike Crump in a press release. “We’re pleased to be partnering with the talented folks at People Can Fly who have been a part of our franchise’s legacy for so long.”

Gears Of War has always been an interesting series to me because it initially got my – and I imagine a lot of other people’s – attention through an emotional beat in a trailer that never really found its analogue in the actual games themselves. I sort of get the sense that’s what E-Day is aiming for, especially if the strains of Mad World in the above teaser are any indication. I haven’t kept up with the series all that closely over the years though, so I’m not sure how often they milk that song in marketing. I imagine it’s probably a lot now I think about it. Either way, It’s been long enough that I could absolutely go for some big man chainsaw misery. Perhaps in 2025, though no confirmation on that.