'Gears of War' is getting its own PC-only tactics game

While all eyes were on Microsoft's E3 stage for its expected announcement of Gears of War 5, the publisher also introduced a pair of new games in the franchise: A Funko Pop-branded mobile title and a turn-based tactics game. Unfortunately, we don't know much about the aptly-titled Gears Tactics -- except that it will come exclusively to PC.

Branching the franchise out in new directions is part of a greater overhaul -- for instance, the games have been rebranded as Gears (dropping Of War in perpetuity). Microsoft tapped Splash Damage, a UK studio that handled PC ports of earlier games in the series, to make Gears Tactics. It's the first in the franchise to be designed from the ground-up as a PC title, and while it looks and feels a bit like XCOM, The Verge noted, it's still got Gears mainstays like cover-based combat and massive boss battles. There's no release date yet -- a blog post rounding up E3 announcements noted it's too early in the game's development to declare.

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