But they're not pay-to-win! Similarly to Halo 5's REQ packs, Gears of War 4's 'Gear Packs' provide cosmetic upgrades, progression boosters, and bonuses for the PvE Horde mode.
Here's a rundown of what each Gear Pack does, and how to acquire them.
As detailed on The Coalition's official blog, Gear Packs are how the game rewards your progression across its online modes: Versus and Horde. Everything you do in these mode nets you Credits, which can then be spent on Gear Packs. As Gears of War 4 is an Xbox Play Anywhere title, all content unlocked via this system will roam between Windows 10 and Xbox One via your Microsoft Account.
There are various types of items that can appear in Gear packs. These include the following:
- Cosmetic customization emblems, multiplayer characters, and weapon skins.
- Bounty challenges that are consumed only when completed, granting bonuses like XP and Credits.
- Horde equipment, abilities, and skills. These will include power weapons, permanent skill unlocks for different classes, and powerful "Strikes" that can be utilized at critical moments. See the link below for more detail on how Horde 3.0 works.
Everything you need to know about Horde 3.0
The different Gear Packs can be purchased both using in-game Credits or via a real money micro-payment, and the funds will no doubt contribute to Gears of War 4's on-going development, adding new maps, new classes and features to Horde, and beyond. Overwatch and Halo 5 have enjoyed a wealth of post-launch content as a result of their funding model, which thankfully doesn't approach any form of pay-to-win territory which runs rampant in the mobile world.
Versus Booster Pack
Cost: 400 Credits or 99c
Contents: 5 Versus Bounties
Horde Booster Pack
Cost: 400 Credits or 99c
Contents: 4 Horde Skills, 1 Horde Bounty
Operations Pack
Cost: 1000 Credits or $1.99
Contents: 1 Guaranteed Cosmetic Customization Item, 4 Random Cards
Elite Pack
Cost: 4000 Credits or $4.99
Contents: 5 Cosmetic Customization Items, 1 Guaranteed to be Rare or higher
The Coalition will also be adding a special Gears eSports Supporter Pack in the near future which will contain unique cosmetic items to show your support for different eSports teams. Stay tuned for more information on that as we get it.
Once we get our hands on Gears of War 4, we'll begin updating this article with some of the unlocks you can expect as a result of accessing Gear packs. So hit that bookmark button!
Gears of War 4 launches on October 11th exclusively on Xbox One and Windows 10.
Need more? Don't miss our other coverage of Gears of War 4 including:
- Gears of War 4 main page
- Gears of War 4 Achievement List
- I played Gears of War 4 at The Coalition, and I can't stop thinking about chainsaw guns
- Gears of War 4 Windows 10 PC system requirements
- We survived the first taste of Gears of War 4's campaign and interviewed the developer
- The Gears of War 4 Xbox One S is Microsoft's best special edition yet
