In Early 2014, Microsoft acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise from creator Epic Games and gave the property to a relatively untested studio now called The Coalition. Thankfully, The Coalition is being guided by the capable hands of veteran Gears developer Rod Fergusson, who was a driving force on the first three Gears of War games. Aside from a tease at last year’s E3, we know relatively little about this new Gears of War, so we traveled to The Coalition’s office in Vancouver, British Columbia to learn more about the history of the studio, to discover what happened to the world of Sera after Gears of War 3, and to go hands-on with a few new weapons and cover mechanics.

In our 14-page cover story, you’ll learn how the team is aiming to stay true to what makes Gears of War tick. We speak with studio head Rod Fergusson and the rest of the team and discover how The Coalition is taking the franchise 25 years into the future, to a time when the world is wracked by massive windstorms that radically change the field of battle. The Coalition is a big fan of the first Gears of War, so we talk with the team about how it aims to bring the series back to its darker, horror-themed roots. Afterwards we break down the three new playable characters and confirm two-player couch co-op. Then we get hands-on time with Gear of War 4’s new close-cover melee system.

Gears of War 4 will be an Xbox One later this fall. Check out the full cover image below for a glimpse of the adventure that awaits.

(Click image above to see full spread)



Watch the trailer above (or watch and share it on YouTube) showing off our month of exclusive content.

Beyond the revival of Gears of War, the April issue is packed with another month's-worth of great stories. First, we speak with Final Fantasy XV’s Hajime Tabata and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn's Naoki Yoshida to learn about how Square is refocusing development on its most important RPG series. Then we speak with The Witness’ Jonathan Blow and ask him about the challenging puzzles in one of this year’s most beloved indie games. Matt Miller speaks with Joe Madureira and the team at Airship Syndicate about their video game revival of the beloved comic series Battle Chasers. Since this is the April issue, Darth Clark returns for our annual poke at the video game industry in Game Infarcer. Meanwhile, demos on Star Fox Zero, Abzû, and exclusive new details on an upcoming Heroes of the Storm character help round out our preview section. Finally, we look back at our last 20-years of catching Pokémon in our Classic GI section.

Print subscribers can watch for their issue to arrive in the next week or two, but you can read the full digital issue now on PC/Mac, iPad, Android, and Google Play. You can also get the latest issue through third-party apps on Nook, Kindle, and Zinio starting tomorrow. To switch your print subscription to digital, click here, or to create a new subscription to the digital edition, click here.

Our Gears of War 4 coverage doesn't end with this sizeable 14-page cover story. Return to our hub throughout the month for more information on the new weapons and enemies, the history of The Coalition, and a roundtable with the game’s voice actors. You can access the hub by clicking on the banner below.