One of Gears of War E-Day’s collectibles is a letter from The Coalition thanking ‘those that are no longer with us’
The message is specifically from the studio, not the Coalition in the game
Gears of War: E-Day features a message from The Coalition, the studio that worked on the game.
The note is one of the 140 collectibles hidden throughout the game. The player needs to collect all 140 collectibles, as well as 125 Hardcases, 36 Supply Caches, and 17 Secondary Objectives, in order to fully complete the game 100%.
Found at the start of Act 4, the note is titled Message from the Coalition, and appears as a printed page with the headline “Remember the Fallen”.
The message reads, in its entirety:
Remember the Fallen
To all our fellow Gears,
We take a moment to remember those that are no longer with us.
Wishing they could be on our journey and by our side, we hold their memory in our hearts.
Never Fight Alone.
Thank you for being part of our Gears family,
While The Coalition, known by its full name as the Coalition of Ordered Governments (or COG for short) is the military organisation in the games themselves, it has a different logo.
The logo at the bottom of the note is that of The Coalition studio instead, making it clear that this is a message from the development team itself, rather than the in-game COG.
VGC has asked Microsoft for an explanation. In the meantime, because the studio doesn’t specify exactly who it’s referring to in the note, it will doubtless be interpreted in numerous ways by those who see it.
It could be a reference to developers, friends, and loved ones who actually passed away. Indeed, the game’s end credits also include a line which says: “In remembrance of the loved ones we lost during the development of this game.”
Others, however, will interpret it as a message to staff who may have been affected by layoffs in recent years, not only at Xbox but also at Bulletstorm studio People Can Fly, which co-developed Gears of War: E-Day and saw layoffs of more than 120 staff in 2024.
Just last week, the game’s story director Juan Vaca was laid off – right before the game’s release – while a Eurogamer report published today says existing Coalition staff fear they may be impacted by layoffs soon.
Until someone at The Coalition sheds light on the real meaning behind the collectible, it appears speculation will be inevitable.
