Revision 1

Horde Siege is the player versus environment mode in Gears of War: E-Day and a twelve-player evolution of the series' wave-based survival mode. Three squads of four fight on the same map at the same time, each with its own mission, joining a battle already in progress and crossing paths with the other squads as objectives shift.

The core loop is unchanged in spirit: survive the Locust, support your squad and bring enough firepower to hold. What is new is scale. Three squads, larger maps and a mix of mission types mean threats, objectives and opportunities all move during a match.

Format

Maps

Horde Siege maps are built across the sprawling districts of the city, each covering multiple city blocks with more space and more combat options than any previous map in the series. The size is the point: squads move across the battlefield, respond to shifting objectives, collect Energy and decide together where to invest and how to approach each fight. The same map plays differently from match to match depending on mission, difficulty, modifiers and what the other two squads are doing.

The battleground is also persistent within a match. One squad's last stand becomes the next squad's opportunity, and you can come across equipment or fortifications left behind by a squad that has already extracted and use them in your own fight.

The map used during the Open Beta was Golden Quarter, set in the aftermath of the battle for the historic district of Kalona and built around landmarks and architecture drawn from the series' classic locations.

Playlists

Difficulty

Difficulty here works differently from the campaign because it scales with class level rather than being a flat setting. The higher your class level, the higher the tier you can take on, and harder missions pay better. The mode always suggests a tier, but the final call belongs to the squad.

R.I.G. and Objective Types

Most missions revolve around R.I.G.s, short for Resonation Imaging Geographer. These are COG scanning devices originally built by mining companies to locate underground pockets of Imulsion, now repurposed for short-range mapping of the Locust tunnels beneath the city. Five objective types ship at launch, with more planned.

Secondary Objectives

Optional side tasks appear while you work the main objective. They pay out Weapon Parts, free equipment and Squad Perks, which are shared in-session buffs that can be upgraded at Supply Caches and expire when the mission ends. Confirmed secondary tasks include defusing Locust explosives, eliminating high value targets, collecting COG intelligence, and delivering a Power Core to another squad's R.I.G. for a mid-wave boost.

Modifiers and In-Match Events

Death, Revives and Squad Lives

A killed player drops their COG tags. Squadmates can pick those tags up and deliver them to any Supply Cache to revive that player, and players from other squads can do the same. If an entire squad goes down, that squad loses a Squad Life. Running out of Squad Lives fails the mission with partial experience and returns the squad to the lobby.

Extraction

Every mission ends the same way. Once the main objectives are done, the squad has to clear a landing zone and survive until the Raven arrives. Technically only one squad member needs to board to complete the mission, though leaving nobody behind is the better outcome. Fail to clear the area in time and the ride leaves without you. Extraction also decides whether the Weapon Parts collected during the mission are kept, which is covered on Mods and Customization.

After Launch

New classes, maps, missions, modifiers and seasonal content including limited time events are planned as part of the wider post-launch support. Nothing beyond the launch set has been named yet, and it is tracked on Seasons and Post-Launch Content.