Gears Tactics Is Coming to Console on Xbox Series X Launch Day

Microsoft's new next-gen consoles won't be ringing in launch with a new Halo title, but at least they'll be getting the latest entry in the Gears franchise. Gears Tactics, the turn-based strategy spin-off released earlier this year for PC, will be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X on November 10, the same day Microsoft releases its new consoles.

As a first-party release, Gears Tactics will be available through Xbox Game Pass when it launches for consoles. It'll also support Smart Delivery, so your progress in the game should follow you wherever you play it, whether you started on it with PC earlier this year, begin a playthrough on an Xbox One before jumping to a Series X or S, and so on.

The Xbox release date for Gears Tactics was announced via Twitter. Microsoft's been leaning on its social media presence quite heavily since responding to the Series S leaks in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday—as such, a tweet is about all we have to go on for now.

That means there aren't details as to the sorts of graphical features that Series X and Series S players should be able to expect from Gears Tactics as compared to players on Xbox One. On high-end PCs, Gears Tactics boasts some pretty impressive advancements, some of which may not scale back to Microsoft's older consoles.

For one, Gears Tactics supports DirectX 12's Variable Rate Shading (VRS) on PC, which is also a marquee feature for both the Series X and Series S. With VRS enabled, Digital Foundry saw sizable performance increases.

Regardless of how the Gears Tactics experience shakes out between Microsoft's old and new consoles, it'll be worth checking it out if (1) you're a fan of games like XCOM and (2) have a console with Game Pass. In his review of the PC version, Reviews Editor Mike Williams called Gears Tactics "a damned good strategy game," and if you're not paying anything extra for it, you may as well rev up those chainsaw bayonets.