Gears of War: E-Day Adds General RAAM for 20th Anniversary

The Coalition has added General RAAM to Gears of War: E-Day at no extra cost to mark the 20th anniversary of the Gears of War series. The character is available to all players after they log in and can be used in multiplayer.

RAAM is the Locust commander and the main antagonist of the original Gears of War. The series’ anniversary fell on Nov. 7. The original game launched for Xbox 360 on Nov. 7, 2006, followed by a PC release the next year.

The two-week anniversary event began on Nov. 3. It has brought the Guardian mode back to competitive multiplayer. Team members can respawn while their leader is alive, making the leader the main target for the opposing team.

Horde Siege has received a new mission called For the Queen. Ammunition and equipment cannot be replenished during the mission, so players must use their starting gear and items found during the match. Completing challenges rewards weapon skins, emotes and other cosmetic items.

The Brothers to the End emote is available at no cost in the in-game store.

The second season of Gears of War: E-Day’s Legacy content is scheduled to begin on Dec. 1. It will add maps, modes and character skins from earlier games in the series, along with updated versions of familiar characters. Dom Santiago will receive the Solemn Memories outfit, based on his appearance in a photograph with Maria in Gears of War 2.

Gears of War: E-Day was released for PC and Xbox Series X|S on Oct. 6. The game may begin a new trilogy. Earlier estimates put its development cost at more than $500 million, though that figure covers six to seven years of work by The Coalition and other Xbox teams.

The series began as Unreal Warfare, an online game that Epic Games worked on in 2000 and 2001. It featured character classes, vehicles and combat mechs. The project later returned to the concept stage when the team shifted its focus to a story-driven action game. The developers used an over-the-shoulder camera inspired by Resident Evil 4 and a cover system inspired by Namco’s kill.switch.