Update!

The codes for the Gears franchise will roll out on the 1st of December.

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This is a really awesome gesture right here. The long and short of it is if you buy the Ultimate Edition between its release date of 25th August and the end of the year, you'll get the rest of 'em completely free to play on XB1 via backwards-compatibility for when it's implemented during what seems to be Autumn. This also includes the original Gears of War release funnily enough. Though the art style of UE looks to be different enough that I'm sure there are some that would prefer to play again with the original gloomy aesthetic intact.

I still own all of my Gears games anyway so I was set for whenever they kickstart BC, but I still think it's great for them do this all the same. Especially since completing the first will undoubtedly inspire some to then want to player the latter Gears games, even if they won't look as good... yet. But hey, I'm always up for an excuse to play Horde mode, and like Hell can I be bothered in setting up my 360 ever again.

that's awesome, I never finished Gears 3 because i got hooked to the MP, Horde and Beast modes. Will be nice to finally finish that game up, i remember the lambent Beserker being such and awesome boss fight in that game, not so much in the horde mode where it was the hardest to deal with.

I've never enjoyed the lambent zerker fight personally. You'd think it'd be the sort of boss you just wail into, but you're to only shoot it when its gooey, glowy heart exposes itself, otherwise you're just wasting ammo. So not only did it feel as if I'm playing the waiting game for half of it, but the battle also as a result goes on for a too little long.

If we can't get BC games for free then I guess this kind of bundle deal is the next best thing.

Wait, what? Aren't all BC games free so long as, y'know, you own the game...? Or do you still have to pay some sort of fee to use your old 360 games?

I wasn't planning to buy the remaster, and I still doubt I will, but this is really cool no matter what.

I don't know about this. Holding backwards compatibility of games you already own hostage, in service to buying the remake rubs me the wrong way. They have the right to do it this way, but I'm not keen on it.

Hmm...might have to buy an Xbox One for this game (and the chance to finally play all of the XB360 games via backwards compatibility). Been a Playstation/Nintendo fan my whole life (never owned a Xbox or Microsoft system outside of a PC), but with this (and the eventual Gears of War 4 game for the Xbox One), might be time to finally get on board.

@cmblasko: @mannymar:I thought the same thing at first, but I'm pretty sure they're giving you all the games digitally. Not just restricting it to people who buy this.

@alistercat: If that's the case, then I'm cool with it. The wording from the press release is a bit unclear on whether they were just unlocking BC in general for the games, or if they're just offering digital releases of the old games to the people who buy the remake.

@mannymar: The second paragraph states:

All Gears of War titles will be supported on Backward Compatibility when it launches publicly this fall. This means if you own Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 or Gears of War: Judgment on Xbox 360, you’ll be able to play them on your Xbox One and utilize some of your favorite next-gen features like Game DVR, Snap, screenshots and more. You can even keep all your previously-saved files, game add-ons, achievements and play with friends on Xbox Live no matter which Xbox console they’re on.

Don't really see how it could be interpreted any other way.

Well, sure! Only played the first one on PC back then and then, but always wanted to play the rest.

@yummylee: Naw that part is clear, I was just confused at how they use Xbox One Backwards Compatibilty as branding in the first paragraph. In my head it read "hey we'll unlock the ability to do this if you buy this game." So, my bad for misinterpreting that part.

EDIT: A few others beat me to some of this, but to clear up some confusion regarding this and other BC games:

If you already owned these games on the 360, you'll get them free when they're made available on BC this fall, regardless of whether you purchase the Ultimate Edition or not. They're not holding anything hostage here. They're just giving away all the old Gears games to people who never owned them if they buy the Ultimate Edition.

As far as how the other games in the BC catalog work, if the publisher allows the game to be put in there and you bought the game on 360, you won't have to "re-buy" it, unless you've since lost or sold the disc or something. It's only if you don't own a 360 copy of a BC game that you'll have to buy it through the Xbox store to be able to play it on your Xbox One, which is 100% reasonable.

Microsoft COULD have chosen to structure the BC to try and re-sell games to people who already bought them, which would be kind of shitty, but that's NOT what they're doing. This is them literally giving Gears games away for free, and outside of this, making a free port of every (publisher-approved) game you bought on 360 with BC.

A lot of the initial stories coming out did not have the wording. Guess I'm heading to Gamestop to pick these up cheap again.

That's pretty cool. My 360 died on me around the release of Halo: Reach and I never got a chance to play the 3rd one. I'll be sure to pick it up within the timeframe (Black Friday deal ahoy!).

What I originally meant was that Epic could just allow people that already own all of the Xbox 360 Gears games to play them on Xbone but instead they are tying them to the purchase of the remake.

Since then I've re-read the article to make sure I am understanding this since the way you guys are talking makes it seem like I am missing something obvious. The following text seems to state that you get the BC games ONLY if you purchase the remake and play it within an arbitrary time frame:

Today, on the eve of gamescom, Xbox and The Coalition are excited to announce that all fans who purchase Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, or the Xbox One Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle, will be able to unlock the entire Gears collection via Xbox One Backward Compatibility. By playing Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox Live from Aug. 25 through Dec. 31, 2015, you’ll get access to Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgment in Backward Compatibility when it launches this fall.

What am I missing here?

Nice. Shit, yeah!

And if they totally screw up the release this game being completely broken, then I'm sure they'll extend the available period to next year: Hooray!

@cmblasko: It's not tied behind anything. The four Gears games are being added to the bc list this fall. If you already own those games, you'll be able to play them. This promotion is if you buy the game and play it by the end of the year, you'll be given the four games digitally for free.

Wow, this is cool. I never played 3 or Judgement so this just gives me more incentive to pick this up (I was gonna anyway)

Man meecroshoft is really going all out lately. I mean as 2nd place i guess they have to, but good on them nonetheless.

So does that mean Phil Spencer is likable enough to be part of the GB extended family now?

Very cool. I have all the Gears games and am looking forward to the remake of one in Sept.. We'll see if the other games actually work properly though. Have my doubts as I'm sure others do too. Love the idea, but we'll have to wait and see obviously.

I guess they really want you to see the improvements.

OK, that's great. Really awesome news that MS seems to be putting in major effort on backwards compatibility, and I hope that Sony follows suit.

But whoever wrote that blog post is fired.

@cmblasko: you don't have to buy the remake to utilize bc gears games, its just that you will get digital copies of them if you don't own them already. Im in the preview program and played my gears disc last night on my xbox1, I do not own nor have I preordered gears ultimate. All my other gears discs will work when backwards compatibility fully launches.

That's awesome for people who don't own the others, I do though, and I don't want the ultimate edition so I'm all good.

Man this makes me want an Xbox One and I don't even want an Xbox One.

Bumped with date they'll be sending the codes!

1st of December? I assumed I'd just be able to download them today for some reason. That's a bit of a bummer.

Kinda odd to have to wait for two and a half weeks, if the games are already available today...oh well, still got MCC to co-op through.

Well, apparently I bought Gears 3 digitally and completely forgot so I can d/l it now. Sweeeet.