Survive Emergence Day in Kalona

Gears of War: E-Day is scheduled to release on 6 October 2026 for Xbox Series X|S and PC (Windows), and will be available day one with Xbox Game Pass. It is an Xbox console exclusive, so there is no PS5 version.

Yes — E-Day is set 14 years before the original 2006 Gears of War, on Emergence Day itself, when the Locust Horde first erupts from beneath the planet Sera and launches a surprise attack on humanity. It follows young COG soldiers Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, so no prior knowledge of the series is required to follow the story.

The campaign takes place across the first days of the invasion, concentrated in a single fictional city called Kalona — featuring a stadium, an industrial waterfront, an airfield, and dense residential neighbourhoods. Marcus, Dom, and fellow soldiers Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes form Bravo Squad as they fight to survive the collapse of civilization around them.

E-Day keeps the classic cover-based, chainsaw-Lancer combat the series is known for, but adds vertical traversal — for the first time, players can jump, opening up rooftops, crumbling buildings, and elevated flanking routes. Missions range from linear combat sequences to larger open districts you can approach from multiple directions. Expect returning Locust enemies like Drones, Boomers, Wretches, Corpsers, and Reavers, plus new threats from the Hollows.

Yes. The campaign supports four-player online co-op and two-player split-screen co-op on consoles, so you can fight through Emergence Day with a full squad.