Gears of War 4 September update brings maps and more

The end of summer is fast approaching, but there's plenty more heat to come from Gears of War 4 this September! This month, we've got news on the latest maps, major matchmaking improvements and a look ahead to the future of the game. Let's get to it.

This Month's Maps

Mercy
The classic Gears of War 3 battleground set in the hometown of Dominic Santiago's wife, Maria, makes its much-anticipated return in Gears of War 4!

Now set in the end stages of winter, the fights you know and love are all here - including the close-quarters pew battles inside the church and the fight to dominate the high ground in the center of the map - playing just like you remember.

Harbor Haze
Prepare for nerve-shaking combat in Harbor Haze! This new take on Harbor is set during the day, and introduces a brand-new mist mechanic that envelopes the battlefield.

The mist can roll in from the sea at any time, dramatically reducing visibility and providing the perfect opportunity for surprise attacks or sneaky flanks. The mist changes the dynamics combat drastically - if you're brave enough to find out how.

Both of these maps are available now in the Developer Playlist with Double XP and 20% Bonus Credits for Season Pass holders. Look for them in Public Matchmaking for all players beginning on September 12th!

New Achievements
This month, we're adding 500G of new achievements to Gears of War 4! After the hardcore Horde and Campaign achievements included with Rise of the Horde, this new list introduces 20 new achievements focused on your first moments with the game. For many of you, you'll have these new achievements instantly awarded the day you turn on the game.

If you're new to Gears 4, these achievements are the perfect on-ramp for your first 10 hours in the game. Yet to jump in? Stay tuned for news on our Game Trial returning September 14th!

Matchmaking Improvements
This month also brings major improvements to your matchmaking experience in Gears of War 4! In the coming weeks, we'll be switching from Region Locked matchmaking (matching you only with players in your choice of Region) to a new Quality of Service matchmaking system.

What does this mean for you? We'll match you on local data centers with players of similar connection quality more often, resulting in fairer and better quality matches every time you play.

On top of this new system, we've also improved the Skill Based Matchmaking to give you better quality skill matchups on top of better network quality, arriving mid-September with...

More to come this September
...ranked Season 2! In Mid-September, we'll be ending the first Ranked Season and handing out those glorious Reward Weapon Skins for eligible players. Ranked Season 2 resets the playing field, and you'll need to go back out there and earn your Ranks again in each playlist.

We'll also have two new Gear Packs this month beginning with the return of the Locust Sniper. On top of that, we'll have a brand new special event for Versus and a Bonus Loot Drop event in our 25 wave Horde experience - Horde Frenzy!

The Future of Gears of War 4
Next month marks the first anniversary of Gears of War 4 (can you believe it?!) and the arrival of the final two maps in our 24 map plan for the first year of Gears of War 4. We've come a long way since October 2016 - here's just a few stats on our journey so far:

 · Released 22 additional maps, with two more yet to drop, for a total of 34 maps in Gears 4!
 · Added new multiplayer characters and weapon skins to earn and show off your skills
 · Delivered new game-changing features including Competitive Lobby, Rise of the Horde and a whole lot more!
 · 18 special events across Versus and Horde including holiday-themed favorites
 · Added 38 achievements and 1000G to showcase your Gears skills

Stats aren't the only story of this journey though. You - our amazing fans - have played more than 10 BILLION minutes of Gears of War 4. You've helped us refine the game with valuable tuning feedback, entertained us with your streams and videos, and humbled us with your stories of friendship, competition and even love over the past 11 months. All of this drives us every day at the studio and we want to thank you for the incredible support so far.

So does this journey end with our final map drop in October?
Not at all. Though October may signal the end of our monthly maps and feature updates for Gears of War 4, we're far from done.

We will continue to support Gears of War 4 with a wealth of new content, events and more throughout 2018! Here's just a few of the ways Gears of War 4 will continue to grow over the next year:

 · Our Xbox One X Enhanced Update, featuring support for 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos and new graphical enhancements
 · New Gear Packs containing characters and weapon skins to add to your collection.
 · Monthly Versus and Horde events with exclusive challenge-based rewards
 · Major Seasonal events like ‘11 Years of Gears,' ‘Gearsmas' and - yes - ‘Thanksgibbing!'
 · Ranked Seasons with skill placement rewards
 · Gears of War Esports Season 2 kicks off with the Mexico City Open on October 13th, so mark your calendars and catch up on all the event information here
 · Continual balancing improvements to Versus and Horde
 · Refinements to ‘Casual' mode in Campaign with increased player health and damage dealt
 · New achievements

We'll have a lot of news to share about our huge multi-month anniversary events, like ‘Thanksgibbing,' ‘Gearsmas' and more in the coming months. We're also working on additional benefits for our Season Pass holders as we move into Year Two - look out for news coming in October.