Gears of War 4's Rise of the Horde Update Adds New Skills, Maps, and More

The June update for Gears of War 4 is called Rise of the Horde and brings more skills, achievements, and rewards to the cooperative mode, developer The Coalition revealed today. The update, coming June 6 for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, will also enable optional ranked crossplay between the two platforms and add two new maps for season pass holders.

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The wave-based Horde mode sees the biggest change in the update with 15 new skills, such as taking reduced damage while repairing fortifications as the engineer class and reloading automatically by roadie running as the scout class. All new and past skills can now be upgraded to level six, one above than previously. In addition, every boss at wave 30, 40 and 50 will now drop a random Horde skill with harder difficulties increasing the chances of obtaining a rare skill.

Horde and Campaign modes receive two new, harder difficulty levels with the update called Inconceivable and Ironman. Inconceivable is a “direct step-up” from Insane mode, making players weaker and enemies stronger in Horde while dropping less ammunition in Campaign. Ironman mode is a toggle that restarts players “back to square one” after one death in Campaign, and disables reviving teammates in Horde. Ironman also ends the Horde game after one failed wave, but offers 5% XP bonus for all XP earned and XP Bounties completed.

The Developer playlist returns on June 6 for season pass holders with two new maps that return from past Gears of War titles. Avalanche is a mountainside resort with a deadly avalanche that changes the look of the map, while Rust Lung is a close-quarters map with cover that can be raised or lowered with a press of a button. The maps will be added to the public matchmaking rotation for everyone else on June 13.

The Rise of the Horde update brings 20 new achievements, Horde packs for season pass holders, and balance changes to turrets in Horde. Turrets now cost more create and refill ammo, while the damage output of level three and four turrets have been decreased. The Coalition explains this change should “result in more varied base building,” and “more opportunities for Class Skills to shine.” Check out the official Gears of War 4 patch notes for more detailed information.

Additionally, a free 10-hour trial of Gears of War 4 will only be available during June 9-15 with extra rewards for new players who reach level 30. The Xbox One and Windows 10 PC trial contains the first Campaign act, and full access to Versus and Horde modes.