Dave Bautista Is Officially Coming to Gears 5

Actor and retired pro wrestler Dave Bautista is finally coming to Gears of War as a playable character in Gears 5. The celebrity has been pining for a role in the Gears of War universe for some time now and is finally getting his entrance in the next Gears of War game, he announced on Tuesday with a brief video. The announcement confirmed that he’ll be playable in the game starting after September 15th, though details on how this will happen weren’t shared.

Bautista shared the video below on Twitter on Tuesday to announce his role in Gears 5. Donning the signature armor that soldiers in the Gears of War games wear, he said it was “about f—ing time.”

It’s worth pointing out that the spelling used in the video referred to the character as “Batista” which is stylized after his wrestling name. It’s unclear what version of Bautista we’ll get since Microsoft hasn’t made a formal announcement, but it’s clear you’ll always know if you’re playing as Bautista.

Shortly after Bautista shared the video, The Coalition’s studio head Rod Fergusson retweeted the announcement and said Bautista was “really fun to work with in the VO booth.

Bautista’s efforts to be included in the Gears of War movie have been well documented. His goal in the past has been to be in the upcoming Gears of War movie that’s been in development for years now at Universal Studios. Bautista said he’s “tried everything” to obtain a role in the movie, so perhaps this will be his avenue to that goal. If not, he’ll at least be in Gears of War in some form.

It’s likely that Bautista will be a playable character in the game’s multiplayer mode just as we’ve seen other characters like the Terminator announced for Gears 5. Many of the multiplayer characters have roles in the campaign as well, so perhaps we’ll see him there. Mixer streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins will be streaming the campaign mode tonight, so Bautista or not, we’ll see a preview of that mode then.

Gears 5 releases for the Xbox One and PC platforms on September 10th.