It was too good to be true, although it’s not quite the fake CGI video Sony pulled out of the bag for Killzone 2 19 years ago.

The trailer we saw at E3 2005 was an internal concept video, and a PlayStation marketing guy took the footage from Guerrilla Games and said, yes, this video runs in real time on PlayStation 3 hardware. We quickly found out that wasn’t true. The Coalition didn’t go that far with their Gears of War: E-Day announcement video.

“The Gears of War: E-Day trailer was created in collaboration between The Coalition, Blur Studios and GNet using in-game models, textures and environments – all captured in Unreal Engine 5. It was not captured in real time as some have suggested,” The Coalition confirmed to GameSpot. The studio was the first AAA team to switch to Unreal Engine 5, and they have high ambitions for the game’s visuals: ray-tracing support for lighting, reflections, and shadows. Studio technical director Kate Rayner told Xbox Wire:

“With the advancements in Unreal Engine 5, the leap in technical capabilities is tremendous. Our goal is to once again set a new standard for technical excellence. We have completely modernized Gears from the ground up, infusing the DNA of Gears with the full capabilities of modern gaming technology. Every character, environment and animation in Gears of War: E-Day has been completely rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, allowing us to recreate the Gears universe with unprecedented detail and fidelity. The original Mad World trailer made a real statement by using in-engine footage. With Unreal Engine 5, we’re taking it even further. Our goal with the announcement trailer was to highlight our commitment to pushing the boundaries of both storytelling and technology in gaming,” said Rayner.

Gears of War: E-Day does not have a release date yet, but we posted a rumored launch window yesterday.

Source: WCCFTech, GameSpot, Xbox Wire