Update: Microsoft has banned the testers who leaked the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition footage from Xbox Live but hasn’t bricked their consoles.
Some gameplay footage of what appears to be a leaked version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition has surfaced on the Internet. Considering that the last images to leak a few days ago turned out to be fake—and from the Windows version of the original game—the authenticity of these videos might take a similar turn. It might be a modded version for all we know. You can watch the footage here.
What gives the gameplay some credibility is that they appeared on the XboxDVR website and were taken down quickly. It was also noted that the game ran at 60 FPS. That didn’t stop many people from saving the clips and posting them everywhere. The graphics are just gorgeous to say the least, and everything from the cobblestone path to the broken walls looks amazing. I went back to the Windows version of the game and it looks nothing like this. I also tried to search for a mod that updated the graphics we see in the video but was unsuccessful. It seems that the graphics engine has been overhauled. I think it’s real but I’ve been wrong many times before so don’t quote me on this. However, considering that Microsoft is taking down the videos, it’s probably real.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian rating board listed Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for Xbox One on their website. The game does exist, we know that for sure, and we’ll see it at E3 in a few weeks. However, Microsoft has yet to officially confirm that Gears of Wars is getting remade for Xbox One. Until then, we can speculate on whether these videos are real or fake. What do you think? Look good, don’t they?
Asher Madan is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 182 articles to ICXM in 2015, focused on Windows and PC, and Xbox news: joined Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017 covering Xbox news, hardware, and reviews.