A new update has removed the Gears 5 Map Builder from the game. Fortunately, The Coalition is unlocking its associated achievements for everyone so they don't miss out.
Gears 5 is the newest core game in the Gears of War franchise; it has all sorts of interesting content like WWE wrestlers and characters from the Terminator franchise. One of its other interesting features is the "Map Builder" which lets you cook up custom co-op missions. Unfortunately, this game mode is gone for good as of today.
Why the Gears 5 Map Builder Was Removed
The Gears 5 Map Builder was removed in order to allow the associated developers at The Coalition to work on other projects.
"PSA: We’re removing #Gears5 Map Builder and unlocking its achievements for all players as the team focus on future projects," read a tweet on the game's official account (via Reddit). "If you’ve completed 'I Made it All By Myself' you’ll receive an exclusive banner [and] if you’ve completed 'Homegrown Hive' you’ll receive 10k Coins in-game."
As shown in the above video from IGN, the Gears 5 Map Builder let you piece together custom maps for the Escape game mode. Laying out a level exactly to your tastes effectively allowed you to customize the length and challenge of a match.
The Coalition did not go into further detail about the removal. However, it should be noted that the Map Builder allowed you to publish your levels to the game's servers. That requires moderation and server resources, so either or both of those are likely being reassigned to other projects.
On the upside, the unlocking of the associated achievements should save you from missing out on getting all of them; these achievements should automatically be unlocked as soon as you install the latest update and restart the game. If you haven't yet played the newest Gears of War game, you can buy Gears 5 for PC and Xbox starting at $39.99 or your regional equivalent.
