by Game of Review Team · published 2026-10-01 · updated 2026-10-01
What is Gears of War: E-Day?
E-Day is a prequel set fourteen years before the original Gears of War, following a younger Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago on Emergence Day itself, the moment the Locust Horde first surfaces and tears the world apart. It's built in Unreal Engine 5, with 4K/60FPS support and NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 on PC, so the series finally looks like it belongs in 2026.
What's actually new this time
- A full campaign retelling Emergence Day from the ground up, rather than just referencing it in flashbacks like earlier games did.
- Horde Siege, a 4-player co-op PvE mode with class selection, replacing the older wave-survival Horde format with something more tactical.
- Refined Versus PvP, aimed at bringing back the competitive crowd that made the original trilogy a staple esport.
- Cross-platform play across PC and handheld devices, on top of the usual console release.
Price and release details
E-Day launches October 6 at $69.99 for the Standard Edition, with a $99.99 Premium Edition also listed on Steam for anyone who wants to go all in on day one. It's currently open for pre-purchase, and as of this week it's already sitting high on Steam's top sellers chart purely on pre-release demand.
Who it's for
If you grew up with the original trilogy and have wondered what Emergence Day actually looked like instead of just hearing characters talk about it, this is the one to watch; if you're mainly after a fresh Horde mode to play with friends, Horde Siege's class system is worth checking out at launch too.
Our take
It's rare for a prequel built around a moment the whole fanbase already knows ("the Locust show up and everything goes to hell") to still feel like must-see material, but The Coalition is betting the execution and the new Horde Siege mode carry it. The bigger story for Steam players specifically is that this isn't just console-first marketing lip service, it's shipping day one on PC with real cross-play, which hasn't always been a given for this franchise. Worth watching whether review scores hold up once Horde Siege gets stress-tested by actual squads instead of trailers.
Games mentioned
Gears of War: E-Day
$69.99