March is here, and with it comes a major update for Gears of War 4 including new features, fan favorite characters to collect, and a whole lot more.

Read on to find out about the two new maps, the new Ranked Lobby system, improvements to the Gnasher, and a first tease of content to come later this month in Gears of War 4!

New Maps

Prepare to fight on a brand new map from The Coalition, plus an old favorite, this March with the arrival of Diner and Old Town!

Diner

A lone neon-lit Diner in a dusty wasteland is the latest battleground in Gears 4! Developed over the course of the last 18 months, this map represents one of the most refined tactical experiences yet seen in a map from The Coalition.

Combat inside the Diner is intense and claustrophobic as you fight for control of the kitchen and Sniper Spawn. Expect smaller engagements that demand close-quarters skills to come out on top.

The parking lot is a more open affair where the focus shifts to ranged combat. Work as a team and win the outside and open up new flanks to catch out your opponents in the Diner!

Old Town

Old Town is back! One of the standout maps from Gears of War 3, this map has been re-imagined in a snowy UIR Costal town, complete with a looming UIR Base lurking in the background.

Old Town features the same layout fans know and love, with its clearly defined three lanes and asymmetrical elevation change from low to high. Fight over the Torque and Sniper under the Belltower, stall to stall in the market, or hunkered down in the tight, long sight-lined alleyway.

With new weapon swaps, the dynamics of the critical alleyway fight have evolved. One round will force the fight into close range with the addition of the Overkill shotgun, while the other will encourage ranged combat thanks to the new Markza pickups. Win the fight to claim the Boomshot or – new to Gears of War 4 – Dropshot that spawns here.

Both maps will be available today to Season Pass Holders in the Developer Playlist, complete with Double XP and 20% Bonus Credits. The maps will be added to the standard map rotation for all on March 14th.

Ranked Lobbies

We’re excited to introduce Ranked Lobbies for Core and Competitive playlists! This highly requested community feature improves the flow of matchmaking in Ranked playlists.

When matchmaking for any Core or Competitive playlist, you will now be placed into a pre-game lobby complete with map voting, bounty selection, and customization options. If a player quits prior to the match beginning, the pre-game countdown will cancel and continue searching to keep matches balanced.

Once the match is over, you’ll be automatically returned into the Lobby search for your playlist without having to manually restart. These features will improve the experience of playing in Ranked Game Modes significantly for our players! Keep an eye out for tuning updates to Core and Competitive playlists planned to arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Gnasher Improvements

Over the past few months, we received numerous reports and videos from users regarding some point-blank inconsistencies with the Gnasher across all game modes. We dived in to investigate, and our findings have led us to making some mechanical changes to the Gnasher that improves its close-range consistency.

Watch the video above to find out how these changes improve the Gnasher experience in Gears of War 4, or head over to our official website for a detailed breakdown.

The Month Ahead

There’s still plenty to come in Gears of War 4 after the update drops this month.

We’ll be kicking things off with a brand-new Legacy Character to collect! This Legacy Character will be available in a few weeks via Crafting, but lucky fans may find him (yes, that’s a hint!) early in our March Gear Packs in the weeks ahead.

Speaking of Gear Packs releasing this month; we’ll have new characters and weapon skins to add to your collection during March. Stay tuned for more info.

Okay, okay. We can’t leave it there. Here’s a few sneak peeks to whet your appetite for what’s to come:

In addition, we’re adding new monthly events for fans to dive into. Set your watches – starting March 24th we will kickoff a Versus themed weekend, followed a week later on March 31st by a Horde-themed weekend event!

We will continue to add Versus and Horde weekend events with every third Friday after an update featuring a Versus-themed event, followed by a Horde-themed event the weekend following that one. We’ll reveal more about each weekend in the week leading up to the event, but we’re pretty sure Versus Snipers are going to be particularly happy this month.

Funko Announcement

Funko’s newest set of Pop! figures for Gears of War 4 are coming soon! These new figures will be arriving later this spring and will include the older and more grizzled Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Damon Baird, Augustus Cole and Oscar Diaz. There will also be a “super-sized” 6” tall figure for the iconic Brumak! Stay tuned to the Funko blog for more information regarding the new Gears of War 4 Pop! figures!

As always, we’ll be reading your feedback to help inform the future of Gears of War 4. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a Diner kitchen fight to go win.