Gears of War: E-Day release: Everything we know so far

You’re not alone if you’ve been wondering when the Gears of War: E-Day release date will finally be upon us. It’s been nearly a full year since Microsoft first revealed the next instalment in the third-person shooter franchise, with few new details since outside of speculation and rumors. 

The one thing we do know is that you’re out of luck if you’re expecting a Gears 6 release date. That’s because Gears of War: E-Day isn’t a sequel to the mainline games that came before; instead, it’s a prequel that will explore the horrors of Emergence Day, of which we’ve only ever seen (and played through) the aftermath throughout the series to date. There’s also the return of some familiar faces after a handful of sequels went in wild directions, so that’s something to look forward to. 

We’ve combed through all the confusion to bring you everything you need to know about The Coalition’s latest release. However, note that the following combines confirmed details and industry speculation. 

Gears of War: E-Day is rumored to launch by the end of 2025; could be delayed to 2026.

It’s been a long time since we last had a new Gears of War game. The most recent entry in the franchise was Gears 5, which was released nearly six years ago; it even predates the current Xbox Series X/S console generation, being released for the Xbox One before receiving a next-gen port. 

As such, hype is through the roof for Gears of War: E-Day, the role it will fill for the series, a reunion between fan favorite characters, and the full utilization of today’s powerful computing and console technology. 

While no specific Gears of War: E-Day release date has been confirmed by Microsoft, current market estimates claim that the hotly anticipated prequel will be released before the end of 2025. The latest in the long-running third-person shooter franchise was first announced back in June 2024 with no mention of a rough time frame since, outside of rumors and speculation. 

While it’s believed that the Gears of War: E-Day release window will be in 2025, some credible gaming leakers have alleged that Microsoft could be pushing the game to 2026 instead. The speculation was sparked in a Reddit thread after a well-known content creator, eXtas1s, claimed that the prequel could be pushed back due to conflicting plans around the license, which are said to be happening before the end of this year. 

That’s because it’s believed that 2025 will see the announcement and launch of the Gears of War Remastered Collection instead of rolling out E-Day as originally planned. Lending a degree of credence to this rumor is the fact that eXtas1s alleges this collection will be coming to not only the Xbox Series X/S and PC but also the PS5, as Microsoft has a recent history of lending its IP to Sony’s hardware, as we’ve seen with the likes of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Sea of Thieves, and Forza Horizon 5 this year. 

Likely, the Gears of War: E-Day Xbox and PS5 release date will differ, should Microsoft’s premier franchise make the jump over to Sony’s console; we could see E-Day launch in late 2025 (or early 2026) on its native Xbox and PC platforms, with a later launch window for PS5 gamers. 

It’s currently unknown whether Microsoft will delay the game to next year, making room for the remastered collection instead, or whether it will launch alongside. We’ve seen something similar with Team Ninja’s Year of the Ninja initiative, as Ninja Gaiden 2: Black, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and Ninja Gaiden 4 are expected all within 2025; Gears could follow suit. 

However, what we do know for sure is that the original voice actors for Marcus Fenix and Dom (John DiMaggio and Carlos Ferro) would be reprising their roles for the prequel. Given how much of a focus the game seems to place on their relationship, this is a welcome comfort for fans throughout the years. We also know that Gears of War: E-Day on Xbox Game Pass is confirmed as well. 

Gears of War: E-Day is likely to cost $70 for the standard edition; pre-orders are yet to go live.

Microsoft has yet to announce or confirm the Gears of War: E-Day price and pre-order information. However, considering it’s an AAA first-party release, we are expecting the title to sell for $70 for the Standard Edition, which is in line with many premium Xbox Series X/S and PC games in recent years. 

We’ve seen this with the likes of Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, both of which launched with a Standard Edition for $70. The company will unlikely buck the trend and offer its flagship any cheaper than this. 

Given that there’s no release date confirmed, it shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that Gears of War: E-Day pre-orders are yet to go live. Once a date (or window) is set in stone, we expect that you’ll be able to secure a digital (or physical) copy of the game from Steam on PC or the Xbox Marketplace on Xbox Series X/S. 

While pre-ordering is unlikely to knock any cash off the entry price, it may give you several days of early access to experience the title with the potential for pre-order bonuses (such as cosmetics, weapons, and missions), giving you incentive to put money down early.  

Another factor of the expected Gears of War: E-Day price is the different versions that could be available. Traditionally, Microsoft offers a Standard Edition, a Premium Edition, and a Collector’s Edition for its heavy-hitting games in the launch calendar, and we’re expecting this release to be no different. 

Looking back to the franchise’s history, the Gears of War Ultimate Edition (remaster) launched with a standard version and a Deluxe Version back in 2015, with Gears 5 receiving a standard version, Ultimate Edition, and a Collector’s Edition in 2019 and 2020 (Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S). 

Gears of War: E-Day is confirmed for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Gears of War: E-Day platforms include the Xbox Series X/S and PC. This has been confirmed by Microsoft with dedicated pages on the Xbox and Steam websites, respectively. 

At present, both of these landing pages are fairly bare-bones in terms of details and content; you’ll be met with a “coming soon” label instead of anything set in stone, with a handful of images and trailers to accompany the brief description of what the long-awaited prequel entails. 

We may also see a Gears of War: E-Day PS5 version alongside the Xbox Series X/S and PC releases, considering Microsoft has softened up on its exclusives library in recent years. However, this is yet to be confirmed by the hardware manufacturer and publisher or Xbox Game Studios. 

Considering the company’s recent promotional drive stating how “this is an Xbox” (seemingly moving away from its hardware and more into Xbox Game Pass as a service), it wouldn’t be the biggest shock to see Marcus Fenix on PlayStation. 

A single trailer has been released so far, during the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase.

There’s only one Gears of War: E-Day trailer published from Xbox Game Studios as present, which was first revealed during last year’s Xbox Games Showcase in a shock announcement. 

That was nearly a year ago, and little else has been teased or shown off in terms of videos, images, and other supplementary material since. The two-minute and 19-second video outlines what we can expect from the prequel, promising to show the unflinching brutality of Emergence Day through the eyes of a young Marcus Fenix. The events of this game are set a full 14 years before the original Gears of War from 2006. 

We know the broad strokes of what to expect from the Gears of War story because we’ve had five mainline entries over the series’ nearly 20-year history. Instead, the prequel will dive deep into all the gruesome details of exactly what happened when the Locust swiftly descended upon Sera in a coordinated, planet-wide attack that killed 25% of the human population. 

The Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) was the last line of defense against them, with Delta Squad (made up of Marcus Fenix, Dom Santiago, Augustus Cole, Damon Baird, Colonel Victor Hoffman, and more) trying to rebuild things 14 years after E-Day in the brutal aftermath. The Gears of War new game will explore what happened before then, outside of the few conversations and world-building tips we could piece together. 

Gears of War gameplay is unlikely to change much with E-Day, with the brief snippets shown in the trailer looking to be true to form for the franchise. It’s primarily a third-person cover shooter that also prioritizes up-close-and-personal melee. 

We expect massive hordes of enemies, destructable environments, a vast array of ranged and melee weaponry, and team-based action that few series have consistently delivered to the same extent. It seems unlikely to win over any franchise skeptics, but long-term fans should have a lot to look forward to. 

The official specs are yet to be revealed.

Microsoft has yet to reveal the official Gears of War: E-Day system requirements for PC. The only detail confirmed so far is the requirement for a 64-bit operating system, meaning Windows 11. In the meantime, though, we can look to Xbox Game Studios’ recent PC releases for a rough idea of how powerful your rig will need to be to play the game. 

Taking Indiana Jones and the Great Circle as an example, Machine Games’ first-person adventure game required either an Intel Core i7-10700K or an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU with a fairly powerful GPU of either the RTX 2060 Super or AMD Radeon RX 6600 and 16GB RAM, with an SSD needed to load the title properly. 

As such, we can expect the Gears of War: E-Day system requirements to be somewhat similar, seeing as the title will run on Unreal Engine 5, which can be incredibly demanding. This is a rough guide for 60fps in 1080p; however, 1440p and 4K could require top-of-the-line RTX 50 series and AMD RDNA 4 GPU hardware instead, with VRAM to spare. 

We’ll update you as soon as the official specs are revealed. 

While we still don’t know the official Gears of War: E-Day release date, everything shown off by The Coalition has given us a positive impression of a brutal, action-packed third-person shooter to come. 

With an interesting premise filling in 14 years of lore alongside technical advancements afforded by Unreal Engine 5, this release could be a return to form for the long-running franchise.