When Luke Preece sat down to design a guitar for Marcus Fenix, the hard part wasn’t the artwork. It was the hardware. The mounting points on a Gibson Les Paul kept interrupting his first concepts, so the illustrator reached for the one motif that fit: a circular saw blade, the unmistakable signature of the Lancer’s chainsaw bayonet.
“I leaned into the circular saw-blade motif,” Preece told Xbox Wire. “It gave the piece the aggressive, brutal energy we wanted, and the shape fit the body of the guitar perfectly.”
That problem-solving runs through a collaboration Xbox and Gibson unveiled today, with Gibson building two hand-painted instruments inspired by Gears of War: E-Day Xbox Wire. Gibson and The Coalition made a Les Paul for Marcus Fenix and an SG for Dominic Santiago, painted by Preece from the franchise’s “Brutality” and “Pathos” themes.
The soundtrack came first
The partnership wasn’t a marketing afterthought: composer Adam Lastiwka recorded the E-Day score on Gibson guitars, looping the franchise’s musical identity back into the hardware.
Studio Brand Director Nicole Fawcette says the guitars pay off a years-long creative relationship with Preece, who has worked on E-Day since its earliest days.
“What I love most about Luke’s work is his ability to communicate big, loud, bold ideas,” Fawcette says. “Rather than simply illustrating Marcus and Dom, we had the opportunity to distill their themes and energy into something iconic.” Xbox Wire
Each guitar began as a hand-drawn concept, then was digitally mapped and hand-painted. Fawcette says the team even considered physically distressing the instruments to look battle-worn, but chose to let the artwork carry the weight instead.
Four built, three to win
Gibson built just four of the guitars, each numbered, signed, and effectively one-of-a-kind because of the hand-painting. Three are up for grabs.
The official rules open entries on 19 August 2026 and close them on 9 October 2026, winners announced 16 October 2026 Xbox Gibson sweepstakes rules. Entrants in Xbox-supported regions like and comment on the @gibsonguitar and @gearsofwar Instagram posts. The guitars debut at Gamescom in Cologne, at the Xbox booth.
Gears of War: E-Day launches October 6, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, and Steam, and arrives day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Xbox Wire.
The controller is also live — Xbox has opened Gears of War: E-Day controller pre-orders Xbox opens Gears of War: E-Day controller pre-orders.
Once they leave Preece’s hands, no two will ever be repeated.
DATE-CITATION CERTIFICATION
- Total date phrases in body: 5
- Total entries in date-source map: 5
- Counts equal (N == M): YES
- Pre-save audit exit code: 0
- Every date phrase with its same-line citation:
- today → Xbox Wire on the unveiling line
- 19 August 2026 → Xbox Gibson sweepstakes rules on the promotion-window line
- 9 October 2026 → Xbox Gibson sweepstakes rules on the promotion-window line
- 16 October 2026 → Xbox Gibson sweepstakes rules on the promotion-window line
- October 6, 2026 → Xbox Wire on the launch line
