Gears of War: E-Day Wiki

Gears of War: E-Day at a glance

E-Day is a prequel rather than a remake, and it is the sixth main entry in the series. The Coalition co-developed it with People Can Fly, while Xbox Game Studios handles publishing. The game was rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 and targets up to 4K at 60 FPS on console.

Xbox Play Anywhere is supported, so progress carries between console and PC. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 that the game is an Xbox console exclusive, so there is no PS5 version. See our PS5 page for the details.

Story and setting

The story takes place 14 years before the first Gears of War, on Emergence Day — the day the Locust Horde first broke through the ground and attacked humanity. The action is set in the city of Kalona, during the opening hours of the invasion. Marcus and Dom have just come home from the Pendulum Wars, a conflict over the energy resource Imulsion, only to face a threat nobody saw coming.

The campaign is a focused, linear experience rather than the open-area design of Gears 5. It is split into five Acts, and The Coalition describes it as the longest campaign the studio has made. Our walkthrough lists every chapter, and the ending explained page covers how it all wraps up.

Bravo Squad: the playable characters

All four members of Bravo Squad are playable, which is what makes four-player campaign co-op work. Each comes into Emergence Day carrying something from the war that just ended.

• Marcus Fenix — an elite soldier who gave up a privileged life to enlist with his close friend Carlos, and who carries guilt over Carlos's death in the Pendulum Wars.
• Dominic Santiago — a COG commando standing at a crossroads in his life now that the war is over.
• Mags Carter — a decorated former squad leader whose whole team died in a demolitions accident; she left the army and was working at the Timgad Prime Imulsion refinery. Read more on our Mags Carter page.
• Lucas Reyes — a Cadet First Class who wants the front line but has been assigned to communications officer training.

Supporting COG characters include Zee, the commander of Point Fairlight, King Raven pilot Gill Gettner, Tai Kaliso, Hank Rustin, and Charlie Squad leader Bryce Valen, among others. On the Locust side, the main antagonist is Vraahk, the Blight commander of the Scorched Legion.

Weapons and enemies

The arsenal mixes series staples with a few deep cuts. You start with the bayonet-equipped Lancer Mk1 and later get a prototype of the chainsaw Lancer, and the campaign even shows how that weapon came to be. Grenades such as Frag and Smoke round out your loadout.

• Rifles and shotguns: Prototype Lancer, Lancer Mk1, Hammerburst, Gnasher
• Precision: Longshot, Breechshot
• Heavy and special: Torque Bow, Gut-Puncher, Incinerator, Ripper, Striga
• Sidearm: Snub Pistol

Every weapon can be modified through a new weapon mod and tactical gear system. Yellow Hard Cases hidden around the world hold the mods, and each weapon has four mod slots. The Locust lineup includes Wretches, Drones, Boomers, Seeders, Reavers and Brumaks, plus newcomers such as the Bilefrog.

Game modes

E-Day has three ways to play. The campaign can be played solo, in 2-player split-screen on one Xbox, or in up to 4-player online co-op. Horde Siege is the new take on the series' wave-survival mode, and Versus is the competitive multiplayer.

Movement is noticeably faster than older entries. There is a sprint, a slide and a jump, and a dynamic cover system lets you snap to walls of almost any height. Our beginner tips explain how to use all of it.

Editions and pre-order bonus

The Standard Edition costs $69.99 and the Premium Edition $99.99, with a $30 Premium Upgrade for Standard owners and Game Pass members. Premium adds early access from October 1, the Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack, five seasonal customization packs starting with the Emergence Pack, and 1,000 Iron.

A physical Collector's Edition adds a 15-inch Marcus and Dom statue, a metal COG tag, a SteelBook and art prints on top of the Premium content. Pre-ordering any edition gave the Exfil Dom legendary character skin, an Exfil legendary weapon skin set and early access to the Open Beta. Compare them on our Premium Edition and Collector's Edition pages.

Music and technology

The soundtrack is composed by Adam Lastiwka and runs to 25 hours of music. The game also has an official Metallica collaboration: an instrumental version of a Metallica song is one of the main-menu tracks, covered on our Metallica page.

On PC, the game needs a graphics card with hardware ray tracing and an SSD. Check the system requirements before buying, and our best PC settings guide once you are in.

Is E-Day a good place to start?

Yes. Because it is an origin story set before every other game, it needs no prior knowledge of the series. Reviewers who played it in full called it a good entry point for newcomers. A normal-difficulty run took around 13 hours for one reviewer, in line with the developer's figure of more than 14 hours.

Critics broadly liked it: it holds a Metascore of 87, and Steam user reviews were about 77% positive on launch day. For the full picture, read our review roundup and how long to beat guide.