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Gears of War: E-Day has gone gold, with pre-loads starting September 29
Gears of War: E-Day has crossed one of the last traditional milestones before release. The game is officially gold, pre-installation begins September 29, Premium Edition access opens October 1 and the worldwide launch remains set for October 6.
By Maëlle Gears of War: E-Day 
The Coalition confirmed the gold milestone on September 17. It means the launch build has reached the point where distribution can move ahead, although patches and performance work can continue between now and release.
E-Day launches October 6 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Steam. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass receive the game on day one.
September 29 is the first practical date
Pre-installation begins at 8am Pacific, or 15:00 UTC, on September 29 across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Steam.
Premium Edition players get access from October 1 at the same time, up to five days before general release. Standard Game Pass access begins on October 6.
Pre-loading is broad. Early play is still part of the premium upsell.
Going backwards in the timeline meant rebuilding almost everything
E-Day takes place fourteen years before the original Gears of War. Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago are young veterans returning from the Pendulum Wars when the Locust first erupt beneath the city of Kalona.
The Coalition has described the project as a genuine technical reset rather than a legacy production dressed as a prequel. Characters, weapons, enemies, animation and environments were rebuilt around Unreal Engine 5 instead of being carried forward wholesale from previous entries.
The familiar cover combat remains, but movement now includes sliding, jumping and more vertical routes through combat spaces.
Campaign, Versus and Horde Siege all ship together
The campaign supports solo play, two-player split-screen on console and up to four players online. Competitive Versus returns in 4v4 form, while Horde Siege expands the series' PvE formula across larger spaces and multiple squads.
The Coalition says it has continued stability and performance work since the summer multiplayer beta, which also produced several gameplay adjustments before launch.
The final PC table is much more useful than the earlier minimum list
The launch chart now attaches actual targets to the hardware tiers: 1080p at 60 fps on Medium for minimum, 1440p at 60 fps on High for recommended, and 4K at 60 fps on Ultra at the top end.
Minimum hardware includes options such as an RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6600, 12 GB of system RAM and 6 GB of VRAM. Recommended rises to hardware including an RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT with 16 GB RAM and 8 GB VRAM.
The 4K Ultra tier calls for an RTX 5070 Ti or Radeon RX 7900 XT, 12 GB of VRAM and a Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Core i7-14700K.
There is an important footnote: all of the published performance targets use an upscaling solution. An SSD is mandatory, with 115 GB of storage listed across the three tiers.
Pre-loads begin September 29.