Gears 5 Campaign Expansion DLC Release Date Revealed

Gears 5 just recently made its way to Xbox Series X and S as one of the platform's new launch titles only a month ago, and now, The Coalition is looking to add even more content to the game. As of next week, the popular third-person shooter will be receiving a fully-new set of campaign missions called Hivebusters that focuses on a new cast of characters.

Detailed by Xbox Wire, Gears 5: Hivebusters is a new campaign that centers around Lahni, Keegan, and Mac, each of whom comprises the group known as Scorpio Squad. This crew is assembled and sent to the volcanic locale of the Galangi Islands where they have to take on a variety of new Swarm opponents. The expansion is said to last for around three hours and is the first piece of campaign-focused content that Gears 5 has received since launching last year.

Hivebusters will also be introducing a variety of new elements as well, some for the first time ever. Likely the most notable new addition in this campaign is that players will be able to accrue different abilities with their characters and then upgrade those abilities. This adds a little bit of RPG flair to the long-running series, which is something that we really haven't seen before. Other aspects of the campaign include the fact that it can be played with three players via co-op and also boasts 16 new achievements to earn.

Best of all for those looking to break in their Xbox Series X and S a bit more, Gears 5: Hivebusters will be notably taking advantage of all the new bells and whistles that each console offers. This means that reduced loading times, 4K HDR visuals (solely on Xbox Series X), quick resume, and more will be available to utilize on each platform.

As for how Gears 5: Hivebusters will be rolling out, Xbox Game Studios is making the expansion a free download for those who are already subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Conversely, if you haven't picked up Gears 5 yet and are looking to do so, a new Game of the Year Edition of the title will also be available exclusively in a digital format on the Microsoft Store and will include Hivebusters.

Gears 5: Hivebusters will be available next week on December 15 across Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. If you don't have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and are looking to pick up the expansion on its own, it will set you back $19.99 as a separate product.

So is this new campaign going to be enough to make you return to Gears 5? Let me know down in the comments or hit me up over on Twitter @MooreMan12 with your own thoughts.