Is Gears of War: E-Day a Remake?

A new story, not a retelling

E-Day does not retell the events of the first game. It covers what happened before them: the day the Locust Horde first erupted from underground and attacked humanity. The official store description calls it the brutal origin story of the franchise.

It is also not a spin-off. E-Day is a full mainline entry in the series that happens to be set earlier on the timeline. The Coalition has described it as a reinvention of the series.

Creative director Matt Searcy put it simply, saying it will feel like a new Gears game because that is what it is. Steam's tagline makes a similar point: it feels like Gears but plays like something new.

Where E-Day sits on the timeline

The game is set 14 years before the original Gears of War. Marcus and Dom have just come home exhausted from the Pendulum Wars when a threat nobody expected emerges. You see the first contact between humanity and the Locust from their point of view.

Xbox says the events of this moment retroactively set the foundation for the rest of the series. In other words, E-Day explains the starting point that later games only referred to. The story covers three intense nights in Kalona.

IGN noted that there is still a gap of roughly ten years between E-Day and Marcus's imprisonment, which happens four years before the first game. Our ending explained page covers how the finale points toward that period.

A new city and a rebuilt engine

E-Day is set in Kalona, a new destination built specifically for this game. It is not a remade version of an old map. That alone separates it from a remake, which would revisit locations from the first game.

Technically, the game was built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. The Coalition's technical director, Kate Rayner, said the studio rebuilt everything from scratch: characters, enemies, weapons, animation, sound and the world itself. That refers to the technology, not to remaking the original story.

The gameplay has changed too. There is now a sprint, slide and jump, a dynamic cover system and bullet travel time. See our tips page for what that means in practice.

E-Day vs Gears of War: Reloaded

The confusion is understandable, because The Coalition released an actual remake of the first game only a year earlier. Gears of War: Reloaded is a remaster of the 2006 original. Here is how the two compare.

Note the platform difference. Reloaded came to PS5, but E-Day is an Xbox console exclusive. Our PS5 page explains why.

What you actually get in E-Day

A remake usually means the same content with better visuals. E-Day instead ships a full new package of modes. The campaign can be played solo, in 2-player split-screen on one Xbox or with up to four players online.

Horde Siege in particular is new to E-Day. It builds on the series' classic Horde mode, but with larger maps, more players and bigger battles. None of that existed in the 2006 game.

Price and platforms

E-Day launched on October 6, 2026 on Xbox Series X|S and PC through Steam and the Xbox app. The Standard Edition is $69.99 and the Premium Edition $99.99. It was also available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from day one.

That pricing is another clue that it is a full new release. Reloaded, the remaster, cost $39.99. Compare editions on our Premium Edition page.

Familiar faces, new squad

The two leads are series veterans, seen here as younger men: Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Alongside them are two new characters, Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, who complete Bravo Squad. Their arrival is another sign that this is fresh material.

Long-time fans will recognise a few names from later games, such as Anya Stroud. But the main cast and most of the supporting characters are new. Read our Mags Carter page to meet the newcomers.

Do you need to play the earlier games?

No. Because E-Day is a prequel and an origin story, it assumes no prior knowledge of the series. Reviewers who played it called it a good entry point for newcomers.

If you do want to see the original story afterwards, Gears of War: Reloaded is the most up-to-date way to play the first game. E-Day leads into it, with a gap of years in between.

Ready to start? Our wiki overview covers the essentials, and the walkthrough lists every chapter of the campaign.

Why people search "is it a remake?"

Three things fuel the question. Reloaded, a true remake, launched in August 2025, shortly before E-Day's big marketing push. E-Day stars Marcus and Dom, the same leads as the 2006 original. And talk of the studio rebuilding everything from scratch is easy to misread as a remake of the old game.

The answer to all three is the same: E-Day is a new game with a new story, new city and new characters. Only the setting in time — before the first game — and the two leads connect it to what came before.

If you still want the classic first game, Reloaded is the version to pick, and it is the only one of the two on PS5. If you want the new story, new modes and the new movement, E-Day is the game. Many players will enjoy both, starting with E-Day and moving on to the original story afterwards.