The ring of next-generation gaming has been sounding for quite a few months now and one of the many games answering the call has been The Coalition’s epic sci-fi shooter Gears 5. The popular fifth entry is boasting numerous impressive optimizations for the launch of the Xbox Series X, including the in-game recast of actor Dave Bautista as Marcus Fenix. While the arrival of next-gen yields all kinds of goodies for fans, it looks like it won’t be too much longer before a full story expansion will also be on the way.

Revealed in an interview with IGN, principal lead producer for Gears 5 Zoe Curnoe revealed a new story-based DLC was on the way this December and would be titled ‘Hivebusters.’ Little else was revealed about the previously-unannounced content, but it was confirmed to span about 3 to 4 hours and is planned to release for the current Xbox One as well as the next-gen Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in an “optimized” format.

All I can say is December and the title is Hivebusters, so it might give you a little hint as to what that content might contain. That’ll be available on the new consoles as well, so it’ll be optimized for those two.”

While devs aren’t spilling the beans, the Hivebusters name itself might provide enough of a hint itself. Introduced as the playable trio of Gears 5’s Escape mode, Team Scorpio, a.k.a. the “Hivebusters,” are an elite group of soldiers in the Gears of War universe tasked with exterminating and breaking away from various waves of enemies. While this mode isn’t particularly story-heavy on its own, squad members Mac, Lahni, and Keegan were previously the subject of their own 2019 comic series detailing their origins in a dangerous suicide mission.

Hivebusters Graphic Novel out now!!

Includes code for bonus Mechanic Mac skin and Hivebuster banner

Read all about it in our latest blog

➡️ https://t.co/S0YH2SnQRW pic.twitter.com/8CbVmoQbJM

— Gears of War (@GearsofWar) August 26, 2020

Whether this new Gears 5 DLC will be an in-game retelling of Team Scorpio’s origin story or perhaps a follow-up adventure remains to be seen at this point. Whatever the case may be, The Coalition seems to be planning something special for the expansion. Technical director Mike Rayner talked up the enhancements planned to be utilized in Hivebusters and how it might take advantage of the next-gen Xbox Series X and Series S.

“So the things that we’re doing with global illumination and constant mapping I think are a good example, and we’ve made sure that the content is really set up to take advantage of that,” Rayner said to IGN. “The ultra-res textures are now there and we can kind of tune them and make sure that they really show up in 4K resolution with the additional memory we have on these consoles and the ability to stream them in super fast.”

What do you think? Are you excited about the possibilities of a Hivebusters-focused DLC, or were you hoping for a follow-up to the main Gears 5 story instead? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:

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