Gears of War: E-Day is set 14 years before the events of the original Gears of War and tells the story of the first Locust emergence on Sera. We'll follow younger versions of the series' original heroes, Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago, as they begin their fight against the Locust invasion. This event is the catalyst for everything we know and love about Gears of War.

Fans of those mainline Gears of War games can expect to feel at home with how Gears of War: E-Day feels. The Coalition is working to recreate and improve the series' trademark third-person action, charging between cover in life-or death situations, all set within an explosive campaign that combines satisfying gameplay and emotive, character-led storytelling. However, all this is told through a modern lens, and rooted in groundbreaking technology, giving The Coalition room to really build out those elements. It's a careful balance – a classic Gears of War game that feels authentic next to the original, but with truly next-gen tech behind it. 

Gears of War: E-Dayis set 14 years before the events of the original Gears of War and tells the story of the first Locust emergence on Sera. As the game unfolds, we'll get to see how an ill-prepared world responds to a threat like the Locust. The Coalition are being very intentional to recast the Locusts not simply as foes but as living nightmares. These aren't your typical alien or zombie videogame antagonists; they're mysterious, formidable creatures that dwell beneath the earth, tapping into our deepest fears.

E-Day reintroduces us to Marcus, as he engages in a brutal struggle with the aforementioned Locust Drone. However, unlike our previous outings with him, this is the first time that the seasoned horde-sawing soldier we all know has faced off against an enemy like this. You can feel the strain and helplessness as he jousts with this inexplicable monstrosity – before finally fending it off not with his Retro Lancer, but a nearby television set. It's this flavour of raw, personal brutality and desperation that The Coalition seeks to capture in Gears of War: E-Day – Marcus, and the world around him, are not yet equipped for this level of threat.  

As Marcus teeters on the edge in a fierce close-quarters battle with the Locust, he swiftly outsmarts the Drone by planting the Lancer into the wall, disengaging the bayonet and downing his foe with a kill shot. He takes a moment to recuperate, before plummeting through the floorboards to what would presumably be his death at the behest of a giant emergence hole. We've not seen E-Holes since Gears of War: Judgement and watching this cavernous void swallow up an entire building with ease is particularly terrifying. However, in this moment, we see the reveal of a young Dom Santiago reaching out to help him up, and for longtime fans, it's an emotional homecoming like no other.  

Gears of War: E-Day has officially gone gold, marking a major milestone for the team as we enter the final stretch toward launch.

"On behalf of everyone at The Coalition, I want to thank the many people who helped bring us to this moment, especially the fans. Your passion for Gears has inspired us every step of the way and reminds us why this franchise continues to mean so much to so many. Thank you to everyone who has played, watched, and shared feedback throughout the journey so far.

Reaching gold is an important milestone for the studio. More importantly, it means we’re one step closer to players experiencing Emergence Day for themselves. We’re excited to finally put the game in your hands when Early Access begins October 1, ahead of launch on October 6."

Pre-Install Begins September 29

Pre-install for Gears of War: E-Day begins September 29 at 8am Pacific Time (15:00 UTC) on XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, and Steam.

Whether you’re joining through Game Pass or have pre-ordered, pre-installing ahead of time ensures you’re ready to deploy when Early Access begins on October 1 at 8am Pacific (15:00 UTC), or at worldwide launch October 6 at 8am Pacific (15:00 UTC).

Premium Edition players can begin playing up to five days early starting October 1. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members can join the fight starting October 6.

PC Features and Specifications

Since the Multiplayer Open Beta in July, The Coalition have ve continued to iterate and improve PC stability and performance across a wide range of hardware configurations.

MINIMUM

• Graphic Preset: Medium
• Performance Specs: 1080p 60 FPS
• DLSS / FSR / XeSS
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 6600 / Radeon RX 9060
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X / Intel i7-6850K / i5-10400
• VRAM: 6 GB
• RAM: 12 GB
• Storage (SSD Required): 115 GB

RECOMMENDED

• Graphic Preset: High
• Performance Specs: 1440p 60+ FPS
• DLSS / FSR / XeSS
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT / Radeon RX 9060 XT
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 / Intel i5-11600K
• VRAM: 8 GB
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage (SSD Required): 115 GB

ULTRA

• Graphic Preset: Ultra
• Performance Specs: 4K 60+ FPS
• DLSS / FSR / XeSS
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D / Intel i7-14700K
• VRAM: 12 GB
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage (SSD Required): 115 GB

KEY PC FEATURES

• NVIDIA DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 3.0
• Hardware Ray-Traced Reflections, Shadows, and Global Illumination
• Built-in Benchmark Mode with Advanced PC Settings
• HDR & Ultrawide Monitor Support

*Solid State Drive (SSD) required. A hardware ray-tracing capable graphics card is required. Graphics cards without dedicated hardware ray-tracing support are not supported. Actual performance may vary based on hardware, graphics settings, background tasks, and selected super-resolution technology.

This story is told from the perspectives of a much younger Marcus and Dom. While the pair are seasoned veterans of the Pendulum Wars (the human conflict taking place before the series begins), this is a wholly new threat for the pair to navigate.

To give some background context leading into the story of E-Day, Marcus and Dom are connected through Dom's older brother, Carlos, who died on the battlefield with Marcus. The pair were best friends, so Marcus and Dom are in the early stages of forming a kinship over a shared loss and navigating those emotions together.

Dealing with the new Locust threat becomes the more pressing concern for the two friends over the course of E-Day, but those emotional beats will still course through the story as you play. Fawcette says this is particularly exciting:

Key to The Coalition's vision is that, in another nod to the original game, E-Day won't just be a marvel of gameplay and storytelling – but of technology, too. Game development has come a long way since the first Gears of War game and The Coalition, equipped with Unreal Engine 5, is prepared to take full advantage of this evolution to set new standards in technical prowess.

Of course, this isn't the end of other ongoing stories in the Gears series – the team is content with the stories told in Gears 4 and Gears 5 and is by no means abandoning them, but the collective passion for such an iconic origin story was simply too great to ignore. The story of E-Day and the origins of Marcus and Dom are such powerful, pivotal events that The Coalition couldn't wait to tell it. 

It's also important to note that E-Day is not a spin-off, it's a completely new entry to the mainline series, set earlier in the timeline. The events of the game not only serve as an exciting origin tale of two beloved characters, but it also adds detail and context to this period that will resonate through stories that will follow. In E-day, the Locust are not foes that our characters are accustomed to fighting. They are mysterious, formidable and overwhelming – an unforeseen horror that Marcus, Dom, and the rest of Sera must learn to deal with before it's too late. Everything that happens in E-Day will shape the future of Gears of War for the better. 

Gears of War: E-Day is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 6, 2026.