- Publisher
- Xbox Game Studios
- Developer
- The Coalition and People Can Fly
- First release
- Gears of War, November 2006
- Latest release
- Gears of War: E-Day, October 6, 2026
- E-Day setting
- Fourteen years before the first game
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Platforms
- Windows and Xbox Series X and S
Play Order
0 / 7 playedMain games in release order, E-Day placed by story.
About Gears of War
Gears of War follows Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad through the Locust War in release order, with one prequel that breaks the pattern. The Coalition's first game arrived in 2006, Gears of War 2 in 2008 and Gears of War 3 in 2011 closed the original war. Gears of War: Judgment, developed by People Can Fly and published by Microsoft Studios in 2013, steps back to six weeks after Emergence Day to put Damon Baird and Augustus Cole on trial. Gears of War 4 in 2016 and Gears 5 in 2019 moved the story forward into the Swarm era with JD Fenix and Kait.
Gears of War: E-Day is the new prequel and the reason the release order needs a note. It was developed by The Coalition with People Can Fly, published by Xbox Game Studios, and launched on October 6, 2026 for Windows and Xbox Series X and S after a premium early access period that opened on October 1. It is set fourteen years before the first game and follows Marcus and Dom as they fight through the collapse of the city of Kalona, with Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes making up the rest of Bravo Squad.
The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, with expanded destruction and a new twelve player cooperative mode called Horde Siege alongside the usual four on four competitive matches. Reviews were generally positive, praising the return to the franchise's darker roots and the Horde Siege mode, with some criticism aimed at the pacing of the semi open levels.
There are also remastered versions of the original, the Ultimate Edition and Reloaded, which are the practical starting point on modern hardware.
Good to know
Play the main games in release order, 1 through 3, then 4 and 5, since the Swarm era assumes the Locust War has already been won and lost. Judgment and E-Day are the two prequel shaped entries and neither is a substitute for the main line.
Judgment is a self contained trial story with its own prequel episodes unlocked in the campaign, so it works as an extra after Gears of War 3 rather than inside the trilogy. E-Day is the opposite case: it is a full main installment, so treat it as the beginning of a second pass rather than a side story. Its dread lands harder when you already know how Marcus and Dom end up.
Story order would put E-Day first and Judgment next, but release order keeps the reveals as designed, so keep E-Day near the front on returns and after the trilogy on a first run.
