At E3, we unveiled a brand new way to fight the Swarm in Gears 5: Escape. We wanted to show how we’re pushing the envelope by doing new things never seen in a Gears game before, and that throughout the summer, we’ll reveal more about Gears 5 ahead of its September 10 release. We said that we’d talk more about the Versus Multiplayer Technical Test in July, and today we’re happy to provide more details on how you can be among the first to play Gears 5 and help create the future of Versus multiplayer.

Multiplayer fans of all types can enjoy these weekend test sessions, as you’ll get to play Escalation (our updated competitive gametype) along with Arcade (a new and approachable multiplayer gametype) and a longtime fan favorite: King of the Hill. For players new to Gears or those that want to practice their skills and learn new mechanics we’ve added our new training mode – Bootcamp. The Tech Test also features a short Tour of Duty, which is a series of challenges for players to earn content – completing all of these challenges unlocks an exclusive Tech Test Banner. Players can also unlock three Versus Weapon Skins by completing some additional challenges. For a closer look at Escalation, be sure to check out the ELEAGUE Invitational next weekend (July 13-14) and stay tuned for additional details about Arcade next week.

Included with your Xbox Game Pass membership or as part of your Gears 5 pre-order (whether as a separate 5×5 code from a participating retailer or bundled in your digital pre-order), the Tech Test will be available to download starting July 17 with online play being active from July 19 (starting at 10 a.m. PDT) through July 22 at 10 a.m. PDT, and then active again on July 26 (at 10 a.m. PDT) until July 29 at 10 a.m. PDT.

As mentioned earlier, starting on July 17 at 10 a.m. PDT, you can search for “Gears 5” to pull up the Technical Test on your Xbox One console or Windows 10 PC. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass member, you will see the Tech Test available to download in your library – same as any of the 100+ great games in the catalog. Note that between the weekend test periods, the Tech Test itself will be available for download, but servers will be offline. We also wanted to remind you that online multiplayer will require Xbox Live Gold on console, and that because this Tech Test is to help test our servers, you might encounter some queueing as you start to play. We hope to make Gears 5 a great online experience for all players and Xbox Game Pass members on launch, and this Tech Test will help.

For players on Windows 10 PC, we have the below chart that outlines minimum and recommended specs for the Tech Test:

Thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you online starting July 19 ahead of sharing more about Horde and Campaign in the months to come!

Visit www.gears5.com and follow @GearsofWar on Twitter to keep up-to-date with the latest information about Gears of War.

Gears 5 will release on September 10 for Xbox One, Windows 10, and with Xbox Game Pass. Pre-order details here on the Microsoft Store.