The technical side of Gears is really insane if you think about it they are able to make it 1080p 60fps with better graphics and bigger maps.

From the Article: Rayner told Ars that the game's console jump to 60fps, from Gears 4's 30fps lock on console, revolved around a number of factors. A lot of that boiled down to "moving a lot of CPU work onto the GPU," he said, including core particle systems, destruction systems, and lighting systems. These changes, plus an investment in new asynchronous compute routines, resulted in a crazy issue, otherwise unheard of in the controlled space of console development: "Midway through development, a bug emerged that bricked a couple of our dev kits," he said. "We were going beyond the GPU profile. They hadn't seen that much power consumption come out of a game, we'd optimized that much."

Between that, a better handling on the mature Unreal Engine 4, "close work" with Microsoft's Visual Studio team, a dedicated mesh-management system via Simplygon, and a physics-system swap to Havok (now wholly owned by Microsoft), Rayner said that the team could not only double the engine's enemy count but also double the game's core simulation speed. Plus, somehow, The Coalition has pushed the engine to such limits that it's rendering every single one of its campaign cinematic scenes in real time, all while loading the next gameplay level's assets in the background.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/08/gears-of-war-5-hands-on-a-new-blockbuster-for-the-game-subscription-era/%3famp=1

The Coalition pushing Unreal 4 on the Xbox to it’s limits will only make all of the other 1st party studios currently using the same engine that much better if they share their knowledge and techniques.

Sent you a PM

Gears POP! is a brilliant move. It's an ad that's generating money.

Reading the previews, Xbox Game Studios might have a 90+ game for a second year in a row. With Ori coming on February, there is a huge chance on making it in three consecutive years. And they will have another chance with Halo Infinit.
That's very important going into next gen. They can start the next gen with customers confidence higher than it ever has been.

Blair Witch seems a bit glitchy so I'm holding off for the moment.

Talking about Game Pass games, we should get a new announcement very soon for September (other than Gears 5 and Dead Cells).
I really need more time to play all those games. Thankfully I only need to work for ~3 more weeks. After that it's 6 months of university. yay :)

Partnering with Microsoft to bring you the first ever Gears of war 5 campaign playthrough tonight at 5 central! Check out the Trailer here and I'll see you tonight at https://t.co/d21XV8MWPv >:) https://t.co/7voWqAxgc0 pic.twitter.com/6TJZmUYcQ3

— Ninja (@Ninja) September 3, 2019

Gears reviews in like 30ish minutes?

Reviews pretty good so far.

Gears reviews are exactly what I expected. Usual complaining about playing it safe and not re-inventing the wheel. Fuck that shit, if it ain't broken don't fix it. Not surprising the new "Escape" mode doesn't get any praise, it looked boring to begin with. But I'm sure it's a high quality game packed with content!