Since the moment it was announced, The Coalition have been talking about how Gears 5 is the biggest and most beautiful world in the series’ history, which has led many to wonder whether the upcoming shooter will end up having open world elements to turn it into the reinvention of the series the developers claim it is. Leaks since then have also suggested that that is going to be the case.

Sadly, we’ve seen next to nothing from the campaign as far as official information is concerned ever since the game’s announcement, but new information has emerged that suggests that the game is indeed going to have open world elements. Rod Fergusson, studio head at The Coalition, recently tweeted out an image of Gears 5 running on a screen, showing exploration of an icy environment on a skiff, which is something that we’ve seen of in a couple of trailer as well (including the most recent one that was shown at Gamescom).

That image, incidentally, also shows a compass in the HUD on top of the screen, which is a clear indication that open world elements are going to be in play. When someone pointed out the same on Twitter, Fergusson merely replied, cheekily, “Interesting.”

In subsequent tweets, he also made it clear that these aren’t scripted sequences we’re looking at. When asked if players will be able to handle the skiff freely, Fergusson confirmed that that would be the case. Additionally, when someone else suggested they “wouldn’t be surprised” if the skiff sequence was similar in nature to the bike sequence from Gears of War 4 – a thrilling albeit scripted set piece sequence in a particular section of the game – Fergusson shut down that suggestion, saying “I would.”

So there you have it- now all that’s left to see is just how extensive this stuff is going to be. We’ll find out soon enough, when Gears 5 launches on Xbox One and PC on September 10. On Xbox One, the game will need nearly 58 GB of free storage space. Meanwhile, if you’re playing on PC, you can check out the system requirements through here.

Whatcha doing? Oh you know, just driving the #Gears5 Skiff in ultra wide resolution. Just a quick photo while @blainh isn’t watching my every move. #shhhh #donttellBlain pic.twitter.com/o1M7H3VUkK — Rod Fergusson (@GearsViking) August 27, 2019

freely — Rod Fergusson (@GearsViking) August 27, 2019

I would. — Rod Fergusson (@GearsViking) August 27, 2019