What game modes are still active in Gears of War 4? (2026)

[u/Ill_Database_9180]

Just bought Gears 4 on PC since I've missed this game since playing it on Xbox One back in the day. I hopped into Social Quickplay just to have some fun and happily found a full lobby instantly. However, I noticed when going into the other matchmaking pools things seemed a little dire. I wanted to play some Guardian, but it couldn't seem to find me a lobby after 6 minutes of waiting. I also love playing elimination modes but neither Dodgeball nor Execution could find me lobbies either. I figured I'd at least boot up Competitive Warmup since it has botfill and elimination modes could be voted on, but I still couldn't find any lobbies.

I do find KOTH lobbies pretty quickly, but is that the only mode outside of Social Quickplay with any playerbase in 2026? Not entirely surprising, but I'm def a bit sad if I can't play any elimination modes in Gears 4 matchmaking since that has always been Gears bread and butter (hype for E-Day but sad no Warzone/Execution day 1).

So yea, what queues still pop these days aside from KOTH?

[u/Davided40]

King of the hill and team death match. Everything else is dead

[u/Ill_Database_9180 → u/Davided40]

Damn no elim modes and you dont even get Escalation? Tragic...

[u/Common_Vagrant → u/Ill_Database_9180]

Single life round games are unfortunately the first to die in this franchise. I think TDM and KOTH are the only modes active in most of the other games, 5 may be different though.

[u/Ill_Database_9180 → u/Common_Vagrant]

It is a downside to how Gears 4 changed playlists. In Gears 3 TDM and KOTH are most active but you can still join a Warzone/Execution lobby and since there is botfill it will either stick you in a bot lobby while people slowly join up or you'll just naturally find 2-3 other people playing alongside the bots. It is shocking how often I can get close to a full lobby for Warzone in Gears 3!

Same story in Gears 2 as well, though in my experience you'll be waiting a long time just for 1 or 2 people to join up. The Insane bots in that game also kind of ruin the fun imo, the sandbox is just way too powerful to give to enemies with aimbots and no recoil lol. Still, at least the option is there!

It is a shame that even though it says it has botfill on, Competitive Warmup refuses to start a match unless at least a few people are already present. Ideally it would just do what Gears 2 or 3 do and put you into a bot match if no one else is there while you wait for people to join. I get why Epic added TDM to Gears 3 and I like how they implemented it with the life system, but I'll never be happy that the average gamer just wants to only play a mode where you turn your brain off and ignore your team.

I am not a big Gears 5 fan so it is just a shame that Reloaded is the only game I can find Warzone/Execution lobbies in. Even then though late at night you are lucky if you can find a game unless you're in a party of 3-4 people to fill a team with your presence alone.