Gears of War: E-Day Artbook Confirmed by Creative Director Matt Searcy, Includes No AI
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
June 10th 2025
After a week of big video game news and announcements, artbook fans have another future release to look forward to, with The Coalition confirming that a volume of artwork is on the way for Gears of War: E-Day.
The confirmation of the book comes by way of IGN's interview with Coalition creative director Matt Searcy, art director Aryan Hanbeck, and brand director Nicole Fawcette, with AI being brought up in the article right at the start. All three confirmed to IGN that no generative AI was used game's development, with Matt Searcy adding the following, "We have a kickass concept art team, and our art book is going to rock,".
Artbooks typically aren't confirmed until there is at least a cover, a release date, and title, but there has been a lot of online talk about the use of generative AI in upcoming games, so this may have been a wise move. The topic is dividing players about its use for artwork, with some stating they will not play games that use it. Searcy not only put minds of players at ease, but also artbook collectors too, giving them something to look forward to after the game launches on October 6th.
For those not aware, there has been a number of games from the showcases over the last week that have confirmed using generative AI, or have been exposed for it, during production or marketing. This includes Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, The Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], Crazy Taxi, and Amsterdam 1666. This could be problematic if you enjoy concept art, but do not want to see images created by AI printed in an artbook. I wrote an article about this just last week due to the upcoming Tomb Raider game having an artbook included in the Collector's Edition, which you can read here.
A Gears of War artbook is always welcome and being AI free is even better, but hardly a surprise, because there have been multiple books in the past with incredible human made artwork. The Art of Gears of War 3 from Ballistic Publishing, The Art of Gears of War 4 and The Art of Gears 5 from Dark Horse Books, and Gears Tactics - The Art of the Game from Titan Books, all gave fans a peak at previous concept art with creative commentary. Searcy may have been more comfortable speaking on an artbook this early due to how fans were probably (and excitedly) expecting it anyway.
Until there is an official reveal, nothing is known about the Gears of War: E-Day artbook, but it would be safe to assume we will see concepts for the characters, enemies, weapons, and locations of the upcoming release, giving a behind the scenes peak at how a younger Marcus and Dom came to fruition. The early days of the Locust Horde pouring out of the ground will certianly make for an interesting game, but also stunning artwork too.
Any future updates about the book will be reported as they happen, and you can check out a list of other potential artbooks shown at the XBOX Games Showcase, which included E-Day, here.
