# Gears of War: E-Day: what players say > Most players recommend The Coalition’s origin story for its combat, but the reviews players find most helpful are mostly negative, over a campaign that sidelines Marcus and Dom, crashes and missing series staples. Developer: The Coalition. Publisher: Xbox Game Studios. Released 6 October. 73% of 7,503 player reviews recommend it (as of 12 October). ## In short Players agree the shooting, cover and new movement feel like the best in the series, and Horde Siege keeps many of them playing. The reviews players find most helpful mostly advise against it. They find Marcus and Dom pushed aside in their own origin story, object to the cast and its messaging, report crashes on PC and miss features such as chainsaw duels and private lobbies. Players who come for the combat and co-op get the most from it. ## What players say Players praise the combat and Horde Siege, and the latest reviews are far kinder than the most helpful ones. The story’s focus, the cast, crashes and missing series features lead the complaints. We read these reviews in full on 10 October. - 80 most helpful reviews: 7 positive, 15 mixed, 57 negative, 1 off-topic. - 40 latest reviews: 23 positive, 3 mixed, 8 negative, 6 off-topic. - **Marcus and Dom feel sidelined.** Players bought an origin story for the two leads on the cover and find Mags Carter making the plans and taking most of the screen time. A few say Marcus and Dom still get strong moments, just fewer than the marketing promised. - **The cast and its messaging divide players.** Many of the most helpful negative reviews object to how the game handles gender and sexuality, from its female-led command to Pride banners in the city, and say it doesn’t fit the series. Other players call these choices minor and say the complaints miss the game itself. - **The combat earns praise even from critics of the story.** The gunplay, the cover and the new jumping, vaulting and sliding feel like Gears at its best to many players, and the latest reviews say so most plainly. - **Crashes stop some PC players.** Players describe crashes several times an hour, freezes in matches and shader compiling that fails outright, high-end machines included. They come up less often in the latest reviews. - **Horde Siege keeps players coming back.** Players call the new co-op mode fun and replayable. Fans of classic Horde find it closer to an objective mode and miss choosing their own maps and modifiers. - **Long-time fans miss series staples.** Chainsaw duels, meat shields, grenade tagging, most executions and private lobbies are absent, and some players say that leaves the game feeling unfinished. ## Questions ### Is Gears of War: E-Day worth it? Most players say yes. As of 12 October, 73% of 7,503 reviews recommend it, mostly for the combat and Horde Siege. The reviews players find most helpful are mostly negative, over the story’s focus, the cast, crashes and missing series features. ### Are Marcus and Dom the main characters in Gears of War: E-Day? They lead the cover and the campaign is their origin story, but players find Mags Carter makes most of the plans and gets the most screen time. It’s one of the most common complaints from long-time fans. ### Does Gears of War: E-Day crash on PC? Many players report crashes, freezes and failed shader compiling, some on high-end machines, while others play without trouble. The game needs an SSD and a graphics card with hardware ray tracing. ### Does Gears of War: E-Day have Horde mode? It has Horde Siege, a co-op wave mode for squads of four with classes and shared objectives across larger maps. Players enjoy it, though fans of classic Horde miss picking maps and modifiers. ### Does Gears of War: E-Day have chainsaw duels? No. Players list chainsaw duels, meat shields, grenade tagging and private lobbies among the series features missing at launch. ### Is Gears of War: E-Day on Game Pass or PS5? It’s on Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC and Steam, with cloud play through Game Pass Ultimate and GeForce NOW. It isn’t on PlayStation 5. ### When did Gears of War: E-Day come out? 6 October 2026 at 15:00 UTC, at $69.99. Premium Edition buyers and Game Pass members with the Premium Upgrade could play from 1 October. ### What PC do you need for Gears of War: E-Day? A graphics card with hardware ray tracing is required. The minimum is a GeForce RTX 2060 or RTX 5050, or a Radeon RX 6600 or RX 9060, with a Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i5-10400 and 12 GB of RAM. The Coalition recommends an RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 5060, RX 6700 XT or RX 9060 XT with a Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i5-11600K and 16 GB. It needs 115 GB on an SSD. ## Sources 50. Steam: Gears of War: E-Day, store page and user reviews: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3010850/ 51. Xbox on Steam: Gears of War: E-Day is available now, 6 October: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3010850/view/1845383656397062 52. Xbox on Steam: Gears of War: E-Day early access and launch times, 1 October: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3010850/view/1845383656381827 Page: https://creativecult.digital/games/gears-of-war-e-day