Gears of War: E-Day Beta

Is the beta still running?

No. The beta ended on August 17, 2026, and the full game launched on October 6, 2026. There is no way to join the beta now. If you want to play multiplayer, you need the full game, which is also included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

This page is a recap for anyone who missed it, and a checklist for anyone wondering whether their beta unlocks made it into launch. For exact dates and start times, see our beta dates page.

How the two weekends worked

The official name was the Gears of War: E-Day Multiplayer Open Beta. The first weekend was a head start for players who had pre-ordered any edition on Xbox Series X|S or Steam, along with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members. The second weekend opened the doors to everyone.

Xbox Wire listed the Open Beta in the first wave of Game Pass additions for August 2026. That made Game Pass the easiest route into the early weekend for players who had not pre-ordered.

What you could play

The beta focused on multiplayer only; the campaign was not part of it. The Early Access weekend offered the 12-player Horde Siege PvE mode. The Open Beta weekend added 4v4 Versus PvP.

Horde Siege was officially described as an evolved take on the series' co-op wave-survival mode, built for larger maps, more players and bigger battles. Up to three squads of four share a map, with shared objectives and world bosses. IGN, which played the beta weekends, called it a neat evolution of Horde.

Versus is the competitive side, with 4v4 matches. The modernised movement — sprint, slide, jump and vault — was a big talking point among beta players. See our tips page for advice on both modes.

Platforms and crossplay

The beta ran on Xbox Series X|S, Steam and PC via the Xbox app. Crossplay was supported. To send cross-platform party invites, you needed to link an Xbox account.

Importantly, a Microsoft or Xbox account was not required just to play on Steam. That remains true in the full game; see our Steam page for how account linking works.

Horde Siege classes

Horde Siege is built around four classes: Assault, Marksman, Medic and Breacher. Each squad of four picks a mix, and roles matter more as waves get harder. Beta footage from creators such as jackfrags showed the Assault class in action.

Class level also changes how difficulty feels. At class level 10, you gain health and damage bonuses, so picking a high difficulty at level 1 makes enemies very tanky. Since class progress reset at launch, everyone started that climb again on October 6.

Linking accounts for crossplay

Linking an Xbox account is optional on Steam but needed for cross-platform party invites. In the full game, you do it from the Social panel in the main menu by selecting Link Account and following the Microsoft sign-in steps. Linking also enables roaming saves across devices such as Steam Deck and Xbox Ally.

Crossplay covers every mode: campaign co-op, Horde Siege and Versus. That means beta friends on different platforms can keep playing together after launch.

Beta performance vs launch

PC hardware analyst Daniel Owen tested the beta using its built-in benchmark tool. He noted that the official release would also include the tool. He also cautioned that beta performance might not match the final game.

So if your PC struggled in the beta, it is worth re-testing on the release build before changing hardware. Our best PC settings guide gives a starting point.

Beta rewards

Completing beta challenges earned cosmetic rewards. These were designed to give beta players something to show off at launch.

• An Epic character skin
• A Rare weapon skin set
• Banners, emblems and icons
• Titles

During the beta, Mags Carter was the only character with an Epic skin available, which helped make her a talking point before launch.

What carried over to the full game

Between the two beta weekends, everything carried over: challenge and medal progress, rewards, class progression and player level. That meant Early Access players kept their progress into the Open Beta weekend.

In short, the cosmetics you earned are yours to keep, but everyone started the full game's levelling from zero. That kept launch fair for players who had not been in the beta. If a beta reward is missing, make sure you are signed in with the same account you used in August.

How players got access

There were three ways in. Pre-ordering any edition of the game granted Early Access to the beta, as listed among the official pre-order bonuses. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass membership did the same.

Anyone else could join during the Open Beta weekend without buying anything. The pre-order bonus also included the Exfil Dom legendary character skin and the Exfil legendary weapon skin set; see our release date page for the full list.

From beta to launch

The full game launched about seven weeks after the beta ended. The first critic reviews covered the campaign only, because multiplayer was not available during the review period. That made the beta the main public test of Horde Siege and Versus before release.

PC players should note that the beta came with official minimum GPU driver versions, covered on our crash fixes page. The game also includes a built-in benchmark tool, which is a good way to check performance before diving in.