Gears of War: E-Day Premium Edition

Every edition compared

Standard and Premium are both sold on the Xbox store and Steam. The Standard Edition is also included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Premium is a digital edition; if you want physical extras, see the Collector's Edition.

What's in the Premium Edition

• Up to 5 days of early access — play from October 1 at 8 AM PT (15:00 UTC).
• Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack — for use in the campaign only.
• Five Seasonal Customization Packs — the Emergence Pack at launch, with four more released over time.
• 1,000 Iron — E-Day's premium in-game currency.

The seasonal packs are not all available at launch. The store page notes that the remaining packs will arrive as they are released. There is no public roadmap yet for what later seasons will contain.

Inside the Emergence Pack and seasonal packs

Officially, each Seasonal Customization Pack includes two character skins, two weapon skin sets, two poses and one banner, emblem and icon. The Emergence Pack is the first, available on day one. Its contents have been detailed on the official site and by guides.

• "Death's Rendezvous" Marcus Fenix skin (Legendary)
• "Bloodied Hunter" Tai Kaliso skin (listed as Epic by PCGamingWiki)
• Two Legendary poses
• The "Emergence Omen" Legendary and Rare weapon skin sets
• "Death's Rendezvous" banner, emblem and icon

The Death's Rendezvous Marcus skin also has its own official promotional video on the Gears of War YouTube channel. Sources disagree on whether the Tai Kaliso skin is Epic or Legendary, so we go with PCGamingWiki's Epic listing.

Early access explained

Premium owners could start playing on October 1, five days before the global launch on October 6. Both unlocked at the same moment worldwide: 8 AM PT, or 15:00 UTC. Your progress from early access carries straight into the full launch.

Game Pass does not include early access on its own, because Game Pass covers only the Standard Edition. Game Pass members could buy the $30 Premium Upgrade to join on October 1. See our release date page for local unlock times.

Standard vs Premium, line by line

The gameplay content is identical. Every mode, every chapter and every progression system is in the Standard Edition. Premium only adds the items in the bottom rows.

The Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack

The official store and gearsofwar.com list the Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack as part of Premium. The official note specifies that it is for use in the campaign only. It does not carry into Horde Siege or Versus.

Beyond that, its exact contents have not been broken down in the sources we checked, so we will not list them. Treat it as a campaign cosmetic bonus rather than a gameplay advantage.

What 1,000 Iron buys

Iron is the premium currency used in the Barracks to buy cosmetics. For example, the Infantry Armor Mags Carter skin costs 500 Iron, or 9,000 Coins earned through play. So 1,000 Iron covers a couple of individual cosmetics at that price.

Iron is a shortcut rather than a requirement. You never have to spend it to progress, and cosmetics can be earned with in-game Coins instead. Our Mags Carter page lists her skins and their prices.

Pre-order bonuses (all editions)

Pre-ordering any edition, including Standard, earned the Exfil Dom legendary character skin and the matching Exfil legendary weapon skin set. Pre-orders also granted early access to the Open Beta in August. These were not exclusive to Premium.

Is the Premium Edition worth it?

It depends almost entirely on whether you value playing five days early. YouTuber LaserBolt summed it up bluntly: for most people the cosmetics alone are not worth $30, so early access is the real product. Now that the game has launched, that main benefit has passed.

• Buy Premium if: you want the seasonal cosmetic packs, plan to spend on Iron anyway, or want to own the full package outright.
• Skip it if: you mainly care about the campaign and modes — Standard has all of the gameplay.
• On Game Pass? You can buy the $30 Premium Upgrade instead, without paying for the base game.

LaserBolt also pointed out that reviews went live two hours before early access opened, and because the upgrade is sold separately, there was no need to commit to Premium in advance. That logic still holds: you can always add the upgrade later.

When the other seasonal packs arrive

Only the Emergence Pack was available at launch. The remaining four packs are being released as the game's seasons roll out. Xbox has not published a public roadmap of dates or contents.

That means part of what you pay for with Premium is future content you cannot see yet. Each pack will follow the same structure as the Emergence Pack: two character skins, two weapon skin sets, two poses, and a banner, emblem and icon. We will update this page as packs are revealed.

Platforms and Play Anywhere

The Premium Edition is available on the Xbox store and on Steam, both at $99.99. Bought from the Xbox store, it supports Xbox Play Anywhere, so it works on both Xbox consoles and PC through the Xbox app. On Steam, it is tied to your Steam library.

Not sure which upgrade path suits you? Our Premium Upgrade and Game Pass pages walk through the options.