Coming "either post-launch or in our next title."

Gears of War: E-Day arrived for early adopters yesterday, available for anyone who bought either the Premium Edition, Premium Upgrade Edition, or Collector's Edition version of the game. As it arrived, however, some players noted 'missing' features that have appeared in past Gears games, but not in The Coalition's latest.

In a statement timed with the launch of the game, the studio noted that these 'legacy features' - such as Meat Shields, Chainsaw Duels, select weapons from the franchise’s past, and Private Lobbies and leaderboards - may arrive either post-launch or "in [The Coalition's] next title".

"We started E-Day with an empty hard drive building our entire gameplay sandbox from scratch to ensure a more unified gameplay experience across Campaign, PvE and PvP," the studio said. "This new sandbox also allowed for innovation in cover, combat and enemies. The trade-off being that including every legacy feature from Gears of War was not possible for launch.

"Those features, like Meat Shields, Chainsaw Duels, select weapons from the franchise’s past, and online work like Private Lobbies and leaderboards – are not gone from the franchise. Our team is working hard to deliver the strongest and most stable launch experience we can with an eye to how, and what, to deliver and improve on fan-favourite features either post-launch or in our next title."

Interesting. Given the mood at The Coalition and the very public, very controversial cuts that Microsoft is making across the Xbox division, it's striking to hear a developer talk about 'next titles'. Part of the most recent wave of layoffs saw E-Day's story director, Juan Vaca, depart the studio, which means if there is a sequel, it will presumably feel different.. I praised the story and campaign quite a lot in my Gears of War: E-Day review.

Other points outlined in the studio's post revolved around the Gnasher shotgun. "The Gnasher is one of the most iconic and unique weapons in Gears of War," the studio said, "we believe it always needs to be punchy, visceral and consistent every time you pull the trigger. As many fans know, the way aiming and firing works has evolved over time, but these goals never change. Every Gears game has fired the Gnasher from the camera position when aiming with the left trigger. This results in an accurate and predictable shot from the ADS view – this is not changed in E-Day." There's a lot of description about the changes the studio is making to how aiming works with the gun, but the long and short of it is: The Coalition is expecting feedback on it, and will listen to what players have to say.

E-Day's first Season kicked off with the Early Access release yesterday and will be live for eight weeks, ending on 1st December. Ranked modes for PvP arrive on 13th October. The game sees a general release on 6th October - and E-Day appears to already be doing well on Steam and Xbox. Let's hope a general release gives it even more of a push.

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