Evidence mounting of Gears of War remaster for Xbox One

Multiple sources have seen it in action.

It sounds like Black Tusk Studios and Microsoft are working on a remaster of the original Gears of War for Xbox One.

Unnamed sources have told Polygon that the re-release will "include updated visuals and reworked cutscenes," the latter by animation studio Plastic Wax.

The site says that they've seen both stills taken from the new cinematics, and screenshots from the multiplayer that have "improved lighting and increased texture quality." Their sources are also indicating that multiplayer runs at 60fps.

Previously it had been rumoured that Microsoft were planning a remaster of the whole trilogy, although Black Tusk boss Rod Fergusson poured cold water over that particular piece of speculation, last month saying that "there's no Marcus Fenix Collection" before teasing a big reveal of some sort at E3 this year.

Another source told the same site that Splash Damage (Brink and Dirty Bomb) are working on the project, noting that job listings for the company confirm they are working on a "very well known and highly popular AAA title with next gen technology."

Meanwhile, multiple sources close to Kotaku are also claiming that the Xbox One remaster is real, saying that they've had their hands a test build of the multiplayer part of the game.

Microsoft bought the Gears of War IP from Epic last year. It's also worth noting that 2016 marks the ten year anniversary of the release of the original, and that would certainly be an ideal time to launch a remake or remaster.

Given the amount of evidence building, it's looking increasingly like Microsoft and Black Tusk are indeed working on an Xbox One update of Gears of War. With E3 looming, no doubt we'll get more details on this in the very near future.