Gears of War: E-Day is now playable for Premium Edition owners and Game Pass subscribers with the Premium Upgrade, Xbox said on Thursday (1 October 2026), ahead of its worldwide launch on 6 October.
Early access began worldwide on 1 October at 15:00 UTC. A Game Pass subscription alone does not grant early access: subscribers also need the Premium Upgrade. The full launch follows at 15:00 UTC on 6 October.
The game is available on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, including Steam. Xbox also lists cloud play through Game Pass Ultimate and GeForce NOW, and says E-Day joins the Disc to Digital program at its early-access release.
E-Day includes a campaign, the co-op wave-survival mode Horde Siege and competitive Versus multiplayer. Horde Siege lets players choose from Assault, Marksman, Medic and Breacher classes, form four-player squads and work with other squads on shared objectives and world bosses. Versus offers 4v4 modes through Ranked and Social playlists.
Two-player split-screen is available on console only. Online campaign co-op, Horde Siege, Versus and other multiplayer features require a Game Pass subscription that includes online multiplayer, sold separately, according to the game's listing.
Xbox has also released a launch gameplay trailer featuring Metallica's “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and published the full achievement list. The original soundtrack by Adam Lastiwka is due on 6 October, with its first track, “Emergence”, already available on Spotify and other digital music services.
Limited-edition Xbox Wireless Controllers are available now. A controller dock is due on 9 October, while 8BitDo's E-Day Retro 87 Keyboard and Retro R8 Mouse are available to pre-order with a target launch of 30 October.