Gears 5 Hivebusters Campaign Expansion Launches December 15 - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 08 December 2020 / 2,515 Views

Publisher Microsoft and developer The Coalition announced the Hivebusters campaign expansion for Gears 5 will launch on December 15. It will be available for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers or available for $19.99.

The expansion features Lahni, Keegan, and Mac from the game's escape mode on their first suicide mission in the tropical Galangi islands. It will take around three hours to complete and allows up to three-player co-op.

View the launch trailer below:

Here is an overview of the campaign expansion via Xbox News Wire:

In the new expansion, play as Lahni, Keegan and Mac – the heroes introduced in Gears 5’s Escape mode – in their first mission as part of the secretive Hivebuster program. Thrown together and dubbed “Scorpio Squad,” their suicide mission to destroy a Swarm hive may hold the key to saving Sera and their own redemption.

Enjoy a new, 3-hour campaign set on the volcanic Galangi islands. The island lava flows and sandy beaches are crawling with Swarm and a deadly new predator.
Use and upgrade Ultimate Abilities in a campaign story setting for the first time.
Up to 3-player co-op, split-screen or online.
16 new achievements to unlock for 210 Gamerscore
The expansion supports Gears 5 Xbox Series X|S optimizations, including reduced load times, quick resume, variable refresh rates and 4K HDR Ultra visuals on Series X.

Gears 5: Hivebusters was written by Kurtis Wiebe, creator of the Rat Queens comic book series, and author of the Gears of War: Hivebusters comics on which the expansions characters are based. Gears of War: Hivebusters, which originally appeared as a five-part series in 2019, is now available for print purchase as a single collected volume and includes the Mechanic Mac Character Skin and the Hivebusters Comic Cover Banner as bonus digital items for immediate use in multiplayer.

Availability

Gears 5: Hivebusters is the first Xbox Game Studios campaign expansion to join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate day-and-date with release. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can play as a part of their existing membership when the expansion is live on December 15. Simply update the game and launch the expansion from the Gears 5 main menu.

Other players can pre-purchase the expansion for $19.99 starting today via the Microsoft digital store or the Steam store.

New Achievements

Gears 5: Hivebusters is complete with a new set of Achievements worth 210 Gamerscore.

Name	Description	Gamerscore
Designation: Scorpio	Unlock during the DLC Campaign	5
Out of the Frying Pan	Unlock during the DLC Campaign	5
New Island, New Mission	Unlock during the DLC Campaign	5
A Breath of Fresh Air	Unlock during the DLC Campaign	5
The Spirit Walk	Unlock during the DLC Campaign	5
Face the Creature	Unlock during the DLC Campaign	5
The Awakening	Activate Keegan, Lahni and Mac’s Abilities in the Hivebuster Campaign Expansion	5
Electroblade	Kill 50 enemies using Lahni’s Electroblade Ability as Lahni in the Hivebuster Campaign Expansion	5
Ready to Frontline	Kill 50 enemies as Mac through your Barrier Ability in the Hivebuster Campaign Expansion	5
Supplies for the Effort	As Keegan, activate Resupply ability 25 times in the Hivebuster Campaign Expansion	5
Enter Hivebusters	Complete all Chapters of the Hivebusters DLC (any difficulty)	5
Rite of passage	Complete all Chapters of the Hivebusters DLC on Insane	15
Renewed, not consumed	Find all Character Ability upgrades in the Hivebusters DLC	5
Operation: Ride the Snatcher	Complete the Hivebusters DLC in 3-Player Co-Op (Scorpio squad, dupes not allowed)	10
Searching for answers	Collect all Campaign Collectibles in the Hivebusters DLC	5
Class Act	Reach level five on any one Assault, one Tank and one Support	5
The Centaur Set	Max out each of the Anchor, Gunner, Pilot, Veteran, Brawler classes	10
A Gear of many talents	Complete a Versus match in each of Regency, River, Nexus, Clocktower, and Gridlock	5

Hivebusters Graphic Novel

For more background and lore around the Lahni, Keegan and Mac, check out the Gears of War: Hivebusters graphic novel, also written by Kurtis Wiebe. It’s available now and includes the Mechanic Mac character skin and Hivebusters banner for use in Gears 5 multiplayer.

Gears 5: Game of the Year Edition
Also available next week is the Gears 5: Game of the Year Edition, which includes the Hivebusters campaign expansion, Halo: Reach Character Pack, plus 30 days of boost, and is available as a digital exclusive from the Microsoft digital store ($59.99) or included on day one with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Cloud Gaming (Beta) Support
Additionally, the Gears 5: Hivebusters campaign expansion will be available to play via cloud gaming (beta) with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate upon launch on December 15. The expansion joins Gears 5 and over 100 other titles now available to play from Android mobile devices.

Gears 5 is available now for the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.