Gears of War: E-Day has officially gone gold, and pre-install begins September 29 at 8 a.m. Pacific / 15:00 UTC. The announcement means The Coalition has finished the launch build ahead of the game’s October release.
Premium Edition owners can begin playing October 1 at 8 a.m. Pacific / 15:00 UTC. The worldwide launch follows October 6 at the same time on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Steam. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members get access on October 6.
What going gold means for E-Day
Going gold is the point when the main launch version is ready for manufacturing and distribution. The studio can still prepare updates, but the complete game has cleared its biggest production milestone.
E-Day takes place 14 years before the first Gears of War. Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago face the first Locust attacks as Emergence Day tears through the world around them. The game includes a story campaign, Horde Siege and Versus multiplayer.
Pre-install will be available to Game Pass members and players who have preordered. Xbox players can download it on Series X|S and the Xbox PC app, while Steam players can prepare through Valve’s launcher.
The final PC requirements
The minimum target is 1080p at 60 frames per second on the medium preset. The listed graphics cards include the RTX 5050, RTX 2060, Radeon RX 6600 and Radeon RX 9060. Players also need 12 GB of system memory, 6 GB of VRAM and a 115 GB solid-state drive.
The recommended setup aims for 1440p at 60 frames per second or better on high settings. That tier lists the RTX 5060, RTX 3060 Ti, Radeon RX 6700 XT and Radeon RX 9060 XT, with 16 GB of system memory and 8 GB of VRAM.
Ultra settings target 4K at 60 frames per second or better. Xbox lists an RTX 5070 Ti or Radeon RX 7900 XT, 16 GB of system memory and 12 GB of VRAM. Every tier requires an SSD and a graphics card with hardware ray-tracing support.
The PC version supports DLSS 4.5, FSR 4, XeSS 3.0, hardware ray-traced reflections, shadows and global illumination. It also includes HDR, ultrawide monitor support, advanced graphics settings and a built-in benchmark.
Three dates to remember
September 29 is the download date, October 1 is Premium Edition early access, and October 6 is the full launch. The synchronized start times make the schedule simple across Xbox and PC.
The game will cost $69.99 for the standard edition and $99.99 for the Premium Edition through the Xbox store. The more expensive version includes the five-day early-access window, cosmetic packs and in-game currency.
With the launch build complete, the final wait is now about downloads and access times. Players with slower connections have a full week between the start of pre-install and the worldwide release.
