Gears of War: E-Day — How to Get Every Open Beta Reward

The Gears of War: E-Day Open Beta hands out six exclusive cosmetics, and every one of them is tied to a specific in-game action rather than a purchase. You earn them by playing the multiplayer beta and clearing set challenges across Horde Siege and Versus. Everything you unlock stays with you when the full game arrives.

Quick answer: Launch the beta to grab the Open Beta Medal and First in the Fight Title instantly, then complete the listed challenges (25 headshots, 10 revives, 5 Prototype Lancer chainsaw executions, 8 Horde Siege extractions on Infantry or higher, and Player Level 20) to unlock the remaining five rewards. All beta rewards transfer to your inventory at the October 6 launch.

All six beta rewards and their unlock conditions

The rewards are purely cosmetic, so none of them give a competitive edge. They range from a simple title you get for booting the beta up to a rare weapon skin set that takes real grinding. Here is exactly what each one requires.

Two of these will eat most of your time. Reaching Player Level 20 and extracting from Horde Siege eight times both demand repeated matches, so start on them early rather than saving them for the final day. The headshot, revive, and execution challenges tend to accumulate naturally while you play.

Note: Player level in the beta is capped at 50 and class levels are capped at 10, so hitting Level 20 for the Epic skin is well within reach across the two weekends.

Beta windows: when you can earn the rewards

The Open Beta runs across two separate weekends in August ahead of the October 6 launch. Early Access is limited to players who pre-ordered or hold a qualifying Game Pass subscription, while the second weekend is open to everyone. The challenge progress you make in the first weekend carries into the second.

Content differs by weekend. Early Access features Horde Siege, the evolution of the co-op Horde mode, while the open weekend adds the refined 4v4 Versus mode. That timing matters for the reward tied to Horde Siege extractions, which you can chase in either phase since Horde Siege is available throughout.

Getting into the beta by platform

You need the beta client installed before you can earn anything. The download is roughly 62 GB, and preloading is already available for eligible players. How you get the client depends on where you pre-ordered.

Two access requirements are worth confirming. On Xbox Series X|S, you need at least a Game Pass Essentials membership to play online. On Steam, a Microsoft account is not required to play, though you will need to link one to send cross-platform squad invites. NVIDIA users should update to GeForce Game Ready Driver 610.74, as the game will not launch on older drivers.

What carries over and what resets

This is the part that decides whether your grind sticks. There is a clear split between what follows you to launch and what gets wiped when the game releases.

In short: , only the six cosmetic unlocks, the beta medal, and the special title make it into the full release. Everything else, including your player level and class ranks, starts fresh at launch. Because progress does carry between the two weekends, anything you unlock in Early Access is already waiting for you when the open weekend begins.

Confirming a reward unlocked

Each reward unlocks the moment its challenge is completed, and it becomes usable inside the beta right away. The Open Beta Medal and First in the Fight Title register as soon as you launch the multiplayer beta, so those two are effectively automatic. For the challenge-based cosmetics, the item appears in your beta inventory once the counter for that objective is met.

If a reward is not registering, the usual causes are straightforward. Horde Siege extractions only count on Infantry difficulty or higher, so lower settings will not progress that challenge. Kills that are not headshots will not advance the banner requirement, and executions must specifically be Prototype Lancer chainsaw executions to count toward the icon. Since the beta is a work-in-progress build, you can expect occasional crashes and performance dips, and issues that are not already listed as known can be reported through the official support form at aka.ms/gearscontactsupport.

With eight total days of play spread across the two weekends, there is plenty of room to clear every objective. Prioritize the Horde Siege extractions and Level 20 climb first, let the headshots, revives, and executions accumulate along the way, and all six exclusive rewards will be sitting in your inventory when Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6.