Gears of War: E-Day is the next entry in the series, and it slots in as the earliest chapter in the timeline. With the prequel now dated, plenty of players want to run through the older games first. Below is the full play order, both by story chronology and by release date, plus where E-Day lands and when it arrives.
Quick answer: Gears of War: E-Day launches October 6, 2026 on Xbox Series X/S and PC. To follow the story in order, play E-Day, Judgment, Gears Tactics, the original Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, Gears of War 4, then Gears 5.
Gears of War: E-Day release date
Status: Confirmed. Gears of War: E-Day releases on October 6, 2026 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. The Coalition is developing it in Unreal Engine 5.
E-Day is a prequel set right before the events that kick off the whole franchise. It takes place after the 79-year Pendulum Wars between the COG and UIR, a conflict that ends when the stolen Hammer of Dawn superweapon forces an armistice. Peace lasts only about six weeks. Then the Locust Horde surfaces from underground and wipes out roughly a quarter of the planet’s population in a single day, an event known as Emergence Day. The game follows younger versions of Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago as that day unfolds.
Chronological play order
The timeline is measured in years Before Emergence Day (B.E.) and After Emergence Day (A.E.). Following this order lets you watch the Locust War build from its first day to the fight against the Swarm generations later.
| Game | Timeframe | Release year |
|---|---|---|
| Gears of War: E-Day | 0 B.E. – 0 A.E. | 2026 |
| Gears of War: Judgment | 0 A.E. | 2013 |
| Gears Tactics | 1 A.E. | 2020 |
| Gears of War (Ultimate Edition / Reloaded) | 14 A.E. | 2006 |
| Gears of War 2 | 14 A.E. | 2008 |
| Gears of War 3 | 17 A.E. | 2011 |
| Gears of War 4 | 42 A.E. | 2016 |
| Gears 5 | 42 A.E. | 2019 |
Gears of War: Judgment takes place in the weeks after Emergence Day and shifts focus to Baird and Cole in Kilo Squad. The story plays out as flashbacks during a military hearing, where the team is on trial for using a lightmass missile that broke orders but saved a key COG position.
Gears Tactics jumps to about a year after Emergence Day. It swaps the usual third-person shooting for turn-based strategy and follows Sergeant Gabriel Diaz, Kait’s father, as he hunts a Locust scientist named Ukkon. It fills in a lot of backstory on where the Locust came from.
The original Gears of War is set 14 years after Emergence Day. Marcus Fenix is pulled out of prison for a last-ditch strike using the Lightmass Bomb, and this is where Delta Squad first comes together with Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird.
Gears of War 2 picks up roughly six months later. Delta and the wider COG army fight to stop the Locust from sinking the city of Jacinto, and along the way they discover the Lambent, creatures mutated by Imulsion.
Gears of War 3 closes the original trilogy. Three years after Jacinto is sunk to slow the Locust, humanity’s survivors are living on the island of Vectes when the Lambent start appearing. With help from Marcus’s father, Adam Fenix, the COG builds a weapon meant to end both the Locust and the Lambent for good.
Gears of War 4 jumps forward 25 years to a new generation: J.D. Fenix, Kait Diaz, and Del Walker. Humanity technically won the old war, but a new enemy called the Swarm begins abducting civilians to build its own army.
Gears 5 continues just months after Gears 4 and hands the lead role to Kait as she digs into her connection to the Locust bloodline. The main arc wraps up as the fight reaches New Ephyra, and the Hivebusters DLC adds an extra chapter if you want more.
Note: A few sections cross timelines. Judgment’s Aftermath campaign is set during Gears of War 3, and the Gears of War 3: Raam’s Shadow DLC takes place just after Emergence Day. Gears Pop! is a mobile spin-off that sits outside the main canon, so you can skip it.
Release order
Release order is the smoother path for newcomers, since it’s how the plot twists and reveals were designed to land. Here is every game by launch year, including the Ultimate Edition and Reloaded re-releases of the first game.
| Game | Release year |
|---|---|
| Gears of War | 2006 |
| Gears of War 2 | 2008 |
| Gears of War 3 | 2011 |
| Gears of War: Judgment | 2013 |
| Gears of War: Ultimate Edition | 2015 |
| Gears of War 4 | 2016 |
| Gears 5 | 2019 |
| Gears Tactics | 2020 |
| Gears of War: Reloaded | 2025 |
| Gears of War: E-Day | 2026 |
Where to start
Pick a starting point based on what you want out of the series. Each of these works as a clean entry.
- Classic start: Begin with the original Gears of War, or Gears of War: Reloaded for updated visuals and cross-platform play on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation 5. This is where Delta Squad’s story begins.
- Newest hardware: Wait for Gears of War: E-Day. As a prequel built for current systems, it works as a fresh jumping-in point once it releases.
- Prefer strategy: Gears Tactics is a turn-based detour that still ties into the lore without cover-shooting mechanics.
- New generation only: Gears of War 4 acts as a soft reset, though some story beats hit harder if you already know Marcus and Dom.
You don’t need Judgment or Gears Tactics to follow the main plot, since the Marcus Fenix and Kait Diaz arcs stand on their own. The core trilogy is the heart of the series, and everything else adds context around it. All of the released games are playable on Xbox and available through Xbox Game Pass, with the more recent entries on PC as well.
