Summary Gears Tactics is available now with Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta), Steam and Windows 10 PC

New Xbox Game Pass members can get their first month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, and access to over 100 great games for console and PC, for just $1 USD

Play Gears Tactics before May 4 to receive the Thrashball Cole Character Pack

Today, a new chapter in the Gears saga begins with the launch of Gears Tactics, a fast-paced, turn-based strategy game developed from the ground up for PC, now available with Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta), Steam and Windows 10 PC.

Gears Tactics has garnered praise from media reviews: PC Gamer and 3DJuegos lauded the title for merging the core gameplay mechanics of the genre with the action-packed intensity and signature tone of Gears of War. Similar sentiment was shared by USgamer who praised Gears Tactics for having a strong narrative focus interwoven into the campaign, while GameSpot and Game Informer further celebrated the title as distinctly Gears, as the latter opined it to be a great fit for the tactics genre. Reviews also underlined how well Gears Tactics plays, with IGN stating that “Gears Tactics is an excellent turn-based tactics game” and PC Gamer highlighting how Gears Tactics is a “deep, fast-paced strategy game.”

Set 12 years before the first Gears of War, Gears Tactics sees cities across the planet Sera beginning to fall to the monstrous threat rising from underground – the Locust Horde. With the government in disarray, commandeer a squad of survivors led by Gabe Diaz as humanity’s last hope. Customize your squad’s loadout and equipment as you take on a desperate mission to hunt down the relentless and powerful leader of the Locust army: Ukkon, the evil mastermind who makes monsters.

Play Gears Tactics before May 4 to receive the Thrashball Cole Character Pack which includes Augustus Cole as a recruit and the Thrashball Armor Set, complete with rare abilities. If you’re new to Xbox Game Pass, you can get your first month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, and access to over 100 great games for console and PC, for just $1 USD.

Series fans will want to check out “Gears of War: Bloodlines,” the new novel by New York Times bestselling author Jason Hough, that sets the stage for the events of Gears 5 and Gears Tactics, and the father-daughter relationship between the respective games’ leads, Kait and Gabe Diaz. “Gears of War: Bloodlines“ is now available in paperback, ebook and audiobook.

For those interested in going behind the scenes with the artists and developers, ”Gears Tactics: The Art of the Game“ tracks the entire development process from concept sketches to final production art. “Gears Tactics: The Art of the Game” is available today from Titan Books.

For the latest on the Gears franchise, stay tuned to Xbox Wire and follow @GearsofWar on Twitter.