Emergence Day Begins – Gears Of War: E-Day Arrives On Xbox And PC

There are few moments in gaming history that feel quite as important to a series as Emergence Day. Gears Of War: E-Day finally takes us back to that moment, fourteen years before the original Gears of War, when the Locust first erupted from beneath Sera and Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago were thrown into a fight for survival.

The Premium Edition is available today for £89.99, with the Standard Edition following on October 6th for £59.99 on Xbox Series X|S and PC. It is also available through Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from October 6th, with Xbox Play Anywhere support.

At A Glance

• Game: Gears Of War: E-Day
• Developer: The Coalition
• Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
• Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Steam, Play Anywhere
• Standard Edition: £59.99 – October 6th
• Premium Edition: £89.99 – Available October 1st
• Game Pass: Ultimate and PC Game Pass – October 6th
• Genre: Third-Person Shooter

Back To The Day Everything Changed

If you’ve played the original Gears of War, you already know what Emergence Day eventually becomes. E-Day gives us the chance to experience those opening hours from the other side of history, following a younger Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as the Locust Horde launches its devastating assault.

This isn’t simply a return to familiar characters for another Gears adventure. The setting gives The Coalition an opportunity to show Sera before the war has settled into the grim routine we’ve come to know, with the sudden emergence of the Locust turning an ordinary world into a desperate fight for survival.

The campaign can be played alone, in two-player split-screen or with up to four players online.

Gears Combat, Rebuilt

The familiar Gears ingredients are still very much here. Cover remains central to combat, while modernised movement adds more freedom to how you navigate the battlefield. Players can jump, vault, slide and flank, giving the action a little more mobility without throwing away the cover-based combat that defines the series.

The Coalition has also rebuilt the game using Unreal Engine 5, pushing the atmosphere, environments and enemies considerably further. The result is intended to be a darker and more frightening version of Gears, with reimagined enemies, new creatures and a greater emphasis on the horror of what is happening around you.

And, thankfully, the big guns haven’t gone anywhere.

Horde Siege Gets A Serious Upgrade

Multiplayer isn’t being treated as an afterthought either. Horde Siege reimagines the series’ familiar PvE wave-based action with bigger maps, more players and larger battles.

Teams can choose from Assault, Marksman, Medic and Breacher classes before heading into battle as four-player squads. Multiple squads can operate across the same battlefield, taking on shared objectives and eventually facing world bosses.

Surviving earns rewards and unlocks customisation and loadout improvements, giving you plenty of reason to return for another siege.

Traditional competitive multiplayer returns too, with refined 4v4 Versus modes spread across new maps and returning favourites. And modernised movement changes how players can approach those encounters, while Ranked and Social playlists offer different ways to jump into the action.

What Comes With The Premium Edition?

Those wanting to start fighting before October 6th can pick up the £89.99 Premium Edition, which provides up to five days of early access and is available from today, October 1st. It also includes the Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack, five seasonal Customization Packs beginning with the Emergence Pack and 1,000 Iron.

The Standard Edition costs £59.99 and launches on October 6th, while the same day brings Gears Of War: E-Day to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. if you do decide to go with that Standard version, there’s a Premium Upgrade pack available too.

We first covered E-Day when it was announced back in 2024, and then have very recently included it in our look at the biggest Xbox and Game Pass games coming in October. Now the waiting is finally over.

Gears Of War: E-Day is the opportunity to witness the moment the Locust changed Sera forever – and to see Marcus and Dom before they became the Gears legends we know today. The Premium Edition is available now, with the full launch arriving October 6th on Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Emergence Day has begun. And judging by what we already know about the future, things are about to get very, very ugly.

Stay tuned for our review.