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Gears of War: E-Day on PC. Click to open it full size.
Gears of War: E-Day is a third-person shooter for PC from The Coalition, available on Steam and the Xbox app. You play Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago on the day the Locust Horde first bursts out of the ground. You fight from cover, flank with your squad, and survive a city falling apart around you.
It is a prequel, set 14 years before the first Gears of War. You can start the series here without playing any of the older games. The game was rebuilt from scratch in Unreal Engine 5, with new movement like jumping, vaulting and sliding.
It launched on October 6, 2026 for PC and Xbox Series X|S, published by Xbox Game Studios. It is included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. On PC it needs a graphics card with hardware ray tracing and an SSD, and it plays well with a controller or a keyboard and mouse.
Already fighting? Tell us which Horde Siege class you picked first. Got questions before buying? Reach out to us directly.
What You Need to Know
- On PC it is sold on Steam and in the Xbox app (the Microsoft Store). It is not on the Epic Games Store.
- Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass include it, so subscribers can play without buying it.
- A graphics card with hardware ray tracing is required, plus 115 GB of space on an SSD.
- Steam lists a Microsoft account as required, and the game uses Easy Anti-Cheat.
- Online co-op and multiplayer have crossplay with Xbox players.
Quick Facts
How to Download Gears of War: E-Day on Windows
You can buy it on Steam or in the Xbox app, or play it through Game Pass. These steps use Steam. Clear space on an SSD first, because the game requires one.
- Step 1. Install Steam. Download it from the Steam website and sign in.
- Step 2. Open the store page. Go to Gears of War: E-Day on Steam.
- Step 3. Pick an edition. Choose the standard game or the Premium Edition and finish checkout.
- Step 4. Install it on your SSD. Find it in your Library, click Install and choose an SSD drive. It needs 115 GB.
- Step 5. Launch it and sign in to your Microsoft account. The game asks for it the first time you start it.
💡 Your PC is too weak? Cloud gaming is an option. Try Boosteroid.
Have Game Pass? Open the Xbox app on your PC, search for Gears of War: E-Day and click Install. It is the same game, and your progress carries over between Xbox and PC. You can also buy it outright on its Xbox store page.
Gears of War: E-Day Editions and Price
There are two digital editions. Both include the full campaign, Horde Siege and Versus. The Premium Edition adds weapon skins, cosmetic packs and premium currency, nothing that changes how a gun fires.
Prices are the US list prices on Steam and the Xbox store, with regional prices elsewhere. Own the standard game or play through Game Pass Ultimate? The Premium Upgrade sells the same extras for $30. A Collector’s Edition with a statue of Marcus and Dom also exists, but it is a boxed physical release, not something you can buy on Steam.
☁️ Your PC is too weak? Cloud gaming is an option.
Gears of War: E-Day is on Boosteroid, which runs the game on its own hardware and streams it to you, so the ray tracing card and the 115 GB SSD are its problem, not yours. You still buy the game on a PC store, then launch it through the service. Use a wired connection or strong Wi-Fi, since a laggy stream makes cover shooting hard.
What Is Gears of War: E-Day?
E-Day is short for Emergence Day, the day the Locust Horde first rises from under the planet Sera. The game is set 14 years before the original Gears of War, in a new city called Kalona, as the attack begins without warning.
You play Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago as young soldiers, long before they become the hardened veterans of the later games. They fight in Bravo Squad with two new characters, the demolitions expert Mags Carter and the rookie cadet Lucas Reyes. The story is about how Marcus and Dom’s friendship turns into the brotherhood the series is known for.
Marcus and Dom, years before the first Gears of War.
On the battlefield it is classic Gears: you snap into cover, pop out to shoot, and move your squad up the street. The Coalition added more freedom of movement, so you can now jump, vault over walls and slide between cover to flank. The enemies are the Locust you may know, Drones, Wretches and Boomers, rebuilt to look and feel more frightening.
Cover still decides most fights.
The famous chainsaw Lancer is here too, as an early prototype: a standard rifle with an old chainsaw bolted on. You find weapon mods at supply caches through the campaign, where you can also refill ammo and change your loadout.
The first chainsaw Lancer, built from spare parts.
Multiplayer has two modes. Horde Siege is a bigger take on the co-op wave survival mode: you pick a class (Assault, Marksman, Medic or Breacher), drop in with a four-player squad, and team up with other squads on large maps to complete objectives and take down bosses. Versus is the 4v4 competitive mode, with Ranked and Social playlists on new maps and classic modes from earlier games.
The Locust Horde, waiting underground.
Want the story that comes after? Our guide to Gears of War: Reloaded covers the remastered first game on PC.
Official Trailer
Watch the official “Adagio” launch trailer for Gears of War: E-Day to see the Locust Horde rise from below Sera, Marcus and Dom on Emergence Day, and the city of Kalona under attack.
Key Features
Emergence Day through the eyes of a young Marcus and Dom, 14 years before the first game.
Play the whole story solo or with up to three friends online.
Four-player squads, four classes, shared objectives with other squads and bosses to bring down.
New maps and returning modes, with Ranked and Social playlists.
Jump, vault and slide between cover, while the cover-based shooting stays at the core.
Ray-traced lighting, reflections and shadows, with ultrawide and HDR support on PC.
Is This Game for You?
Why Play on PC?
- Uncapped frame rates: The PC version can remove the frame rate cap, so a fast graphics card and a high refresh monitor get used fully.
- Ultrawide screens: 21:9 and 32:9 monitors are supported in gameplay and menus.
- Upscaling and frame generation: NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR raise frame rates on supported cards, and a built-in benchmark helps you pick settings.
- Mouse and keyboard: Aiming from cover with a mouse is quicker, and every key and button can be remapped.
- Mods: Fan-made mods are already on Nexus Mods, see the section below.
Our Take
🎮 Our Take
E-Day goes back to what made the first Gears of War stick: a small squad, a city falling apart, and enemies that feel like a real threat instead of target practice. Telling the story of Emergence Day through a young Marcus and Dom is the right call, because it gives longtime fans answers and gives new players a clean place to start. The multiplayer plan is the part we like most. The Coalition says nearly every item can be earned by playing, with no battle pass, and that is rare for a shooter at this price. The catch is the PC entry bar: a ray tracing graphics card is required, 115 GB of SSD space is a lot, and a Microsoft account is mandatory even on Steam.
If you have Game Pass, play it there first, since it is included. If you do not and your PC meets the recommended spec, the standard edition is enough; Premium only adds cosmetics and currency. If your graphics card is older or you sit right at the minimum, stream it through cloud gaming instead of fighting with settings. And if you want couch co-op on one PC, know that official split-screen is for Xbox only.
System Requirements
These are the requirements The Coalition published on Steam. A graphics card with hardware ray tracing is required, not optional, so older cards such as the GTX 10 and GTX 16 series cannot run it. Windows 10 is supported at the minimum, but it has to be fully updated.
The game also has a built-in benchmark mode, so you can test your settings before you start the campaign. If your PC falls short, cloud gaming is the cheaper route, and if you are thinking about an upgrade, our Best Gaming Desktops guide is a good place to start.
Tips for Beginners
Watch the red gear
The red gear symbol in the middle of the screen fills as you take damage. When it shows up, get back into cover and let your health recover.
Never stand in the open
Cover is your health bar. Move from cover to cover, and use the new slide and vault to cross gaps quickly.
Use supply caches
Caches in the campaign refill your ammo and let you change your loadout and weapon mods. Stop at every one you pass.
Fill the gap in Horde Siege
Pick a class your squad is missing. A team of four Assaults runs out of healing; a Medic keeps everyone standing.
Run the benchmark first
Use the built-in benchmark before you play, then lower settings until the frame rate stays smooth in busy fights.
Best Gears of War: E-Day Mods to Start With
Gears of War: E-Day has no Steam Workshop. Mods come from Nexus Mods, and the first wave is mostly about performance and comfort: faster startup, smoother frame rates, a wider camera, and even the split-screen co-op the PC version leaves out. These five are the most useful to start with.
💡 These are fan-made mods, not official ones. The game uses Easy Anti-Cheat online, and mods that run through UE4SS only work offline with it switched off. Keep every mod away from Horde Siege and Versus to stay safe, and remove them before you play online. A game patch can break any of them until the author updates it.
Gears of War: E-Day Screenshots
Locust Boomers, the ruins of Kalona, the new chainsaw Lancer and a few quieter moments from the campaign. Click any image to open it full size.
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Gears of War: E-Day FAQ
Do I need to play the older Gears of War games first?
Can I play Gears of War: E-Day on Steam Deck?
Does Gears of War: E-Day have split-screen on PC?
Do I need a Microsoft account to play on Steam?
Does Gears of War: E-Day have a battle pass?
What are the Gears of War: E-Day system requirements?
Support and Community
- Gears of War official site, The Coalition’s own site, with news, editions and season updates.
- r/GearsOfWar on Reddit, the series subreddit, for news, clips and help.
- Steam news for Gears of War: E-Day, where patch notes appear.
- Gears of War: E-Day on Nexus Mods, for the newest fan-made mods.
Explore more Windows games: Gears 5 for Windows · Gears of War 4 for Windows · Gears Tactics for Windows · Helldivers 2 for Windows · Best Action Games for Windows
Need a PC upgrade to run these? See our Best Gaming Desktops guide.
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