Gears of War: E-Day release time, preload date and download size
For fans of Xbox’s beloved Gears of War series, October 1, 2026, is their Emergence Day. And right now, Gears of War: E-Day Premium Edition and Collector’s Edition owners will be experiencing the day when the Locust Horde invaded the planet Sera from beneath the surface.
Those who own the Gears of War: E-Day Standard Edition will gain access to the game on October 6, 2026, at 8am PT, 11am ET and the UK release time of 4pm BST. These times also reflect access to Gears of War: E-Day for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
For Gears of War: E-Day Standard Edition and Game Pass, the pre-install is available now on Xbox Series X/S, the Xbox PC app and Steam. We’ll confirm the final launch size and day-one patch at launch.
What time does Gears of War: E-Day release?
Premium Edition early access time
- October 1 at 8am PT.
- October 1 at 11am ET.
- October 1 at 4pm BST.
- October 1 at 5pm CEST.
- October 2 at 1am JST and 2am AEST.
The above release dates apply only to those who purchase the Gears of War: E-Day Premium Edition or the Premium Edition upgrade.
READ MORE: Gears of War E-Day: How to unlock five-day early access on Xbox Game Pass
Advert
Standard edition and Game Pass release time
- October 6 at 8am PT.
- October 6 at 11am ET.
- October 6 at 4pm BST.
- October 6 at 5pm CEST.
- October 7 at 12am KST, 1am JST and 2am AEST.
For the Gears of War: E-Day Standard Edition, as well as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass access, Microsoft has issued a single worldwide unlock rather than a local midnight launch. This means that the old trick of changing the console region to New Zealand to play the game early should not work
READ MORE: Gears of War E-Day pre-order guide: everything included in each version
When can you preload Gears of War E-Day
You can preload Gears of War: E-Day right now, because that process began on September 29, 2026 at 8am PT/3pm UTC/4pm BST.
How to preload on Xbox Series X / S and Game Pass
Simply find Gears of War: E-Day on the Xbox Store via your console or Game Pass library and choose pre-install or install (depending on the date). Then select the desired storage drive. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can also preload now ahead of the October 6 worldwide launch.
How to preload on PC and Steam
- Xbox PC app: Find Gears of War: E-Day, choose to install, and select the desired SSD.
- Steam: Open the Steam app after pre-purchase and choose the preload option.
READ MORE: Gears of War: E-Day's campaign length has been confirmed
Gears of War: E-Day file size
PC storage requirement and download size
Gears of War: E-Day requires 115GB of available SSD storage on PC, and the download size is currently around 120.4GB, according to the Xbox PC app. Steam requires 115GB of SSD storage but currently does not specify the download size.
- Recommended SSD storage for PC: WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD 1TB │Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB │Crucial P310 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4
- Recommended expansion card for Xbox Series X/S: WD_BLACK C50 1TB Expansion Card │Seagate 1TB Xbox Storage Expansion Card │SANDISK Optimus GX C50 Storage Expansion Card
Xbox Series X / S download size
The current Xbox Series X/S download size is 120.5GB. However, here is an exact breakdown of all the separate Gears of War: E-Day download components:
- Base Game: 21.7GB
- Campaign: 82.2GB
- Horde Siege: 76GB
- Versus: 31.2GB
Bonus DLC is already included and does not need to be downloaded. As previously stated, day-one patches and further post-launch updates can increase the sizes.
Topics: Gears Of War, PC, Steam, Xbox