"It's about f*cking time," says Dave Bautista in a new promo for GEARS 5, an upcoming video game sequel that will feature the retired pro wrestler turned actor as a playable character. Bautista announced his arrival as part of the highly-anticipated video game on Tuesday when he shared a brief entrance video to his personal Twitter account. Players will be able to take control of Bautista beginning on September 15, mere days after the game officially launches on both Xbox One and PC platforms on September 6th.
Not long after Bautista teased his GEARS 5 role, The Coalition’s studio head Rod Fergusson retweeted the announcement, adding that Bautista was “really fun to work with in the VO booth."
In the past, Bautista has been quite vocal about his love for the Gears of War video game franchise. He's even voiced interest in starring in the GEAR OF WAR movie, which has been stuck in development hell over at Universal Studios for the past several years. Try as he might, Bautista has yet to be welcomed onto the game's film-related project, though I suppose appearing as a character in GEARS 5 is the next best thing, right? For now, it's unclear as to how Bautista's character will be made available to players – be it as part of the main game or introduced as a multiplayer component. His character is aptly named "Batista," which is just perfect, if you ask me. Previously, it was announced that a TERMINATOR: DARK FATE character pack is also coming for those who pre-order the game or play within the first week.
Personally, I'd been looking forward to playing GEARS 5 ever since it was announced, but now that I know Bautista will arrive as a playable character, that's just icing on the cake! I can't wait to hear him spout one-liners while throwing bullets at the Horde, and it'll be pretty sweet to see him work that chainsaw gun as well. Let's do this!