Without a doubt, plenty of Xbox fans were excited to see the announcement of Gears 5 during Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference, with the reveal trailer for the forthcoming shooter offering a look at the story to come in the sequel. Of course, players were also surprised to learn that the fifth entry in the series is having its name officially shortened, with The Coalition head Rod Fergusson now explaining why that's the case.
As seen in the Twitter exchange below between Fergusson and IGN's Ryan McCaffrey, The Coalition head states that Gears 5 is what players will see on the box once the game officially launches for PC and Xbox One. Then, Fergusson explains that the reason the name's being shortened is due to the company "doing a family of products" such as "Gears Pop, Gears Tactics, and Gears 5." The overall franchise name, however, will remain Gears of War.
For those unaware, this rebranding of Gears 5 came alongside the announcements of the aforementioned Gears Pop and Gears Tactics during Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference, with the former being a spin-off of sorts, while the latter will be a turn-based isometric title. It will be interesting to see if The Coalition has any crossover in-game rewards such as logging into Gears Tactics to get a special weapon for Gears 5 and vice versa. However, it's still too early to tell at this point.
Shortened name aside, Gears 5 will likely please core fans of the franchise, as it likely looks to refine the solid combat that has been established in previous games. There will be some more changes however, as Kait Diaz will be the series' first female protagonist, while The Coalition will also be incorporating some open world elements this time around.
Gears 5 is currently set to release at some point in 2019 for PC and Xbox One.