The Coalition’s upcoming prequel Gears of War: E-Day has the longest campaign of any game in the iconic Xbox franchise.
Shown off alongside a new retcon-heavy trailer for Halo: Campaign Evolved at the Xbox Games Showcase, Gears of War: E-Day is a glorious return for the series. Built in Unreal Engine 5, the new prequel injects the series with the mechanical shake-up it’s needed for years all while returning to the past with series lead Marcus Fenix.
Set in the city of Kalona, E-Day adapts the events of Emergence Day, the day where the indomitable Locust burst from the ground and attacked the planet. In an interview with IGN,The Coalition confirmed that the game will have the densest and longest campaign yet with more set pieces, more emotional weight, and simply more to do.
“[E-Day is] longer than any campaign built”, creative director Matt Searcy told the outlet. Alongside having more time to spend in the world, E-Day will also have more collectibles than any other game in the Gears franchise as well as the usual multiplayer modes.
Gears of War: E-Day’s campaign will last around 14 hours. For comparison, the original game’s campaign clocks in at around 9 hours with the longest campaign so far belonging to Gear 5’s 12-hour campaign.
Searcy explains that the unexplored city of Kalona allows for a brilliant new story without breaking canon. “We worked really hard to keep the canon intact. Honestly, lifting the Tai moment out and putting it in this place was probably the biggest single thing we’ve done and we kept it intact, like we kept the moment intact. We just relocated where and when exactly it happened in the canon,” they continued.
While Gears of War: E-Day is a prequel, it will also see the addition of brand-new enemy types that haven’t existed in other games in the series. Alongside being the longest Gears game, players will also have more enemies to fight than the original trilogy, which is very exciting.
“Because the world goes so downhill in the original trilogy, we’re able to do some new stuff that we were okay that, if you didn’t see them in the original trilogy, it was okay. The world lost so much,” brand director Nicole Fawcette said.
Gears of War: E-Day launches exclusively on Xbox Series consoles and PC later this year on October 6, 2026. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass and playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
