Gears of War: E-Day opens early on October 1, and it wants about 109GB first
Premium Edition owners get into Gears of War: E-Day on October 1 at 8am Pacific, five days before the October 6 launch. Pre-installation opened on September 29, and the Xbox download is reported at just under 109GB.
Gears of War: E-Day's Early Access window starts on October 1 at 8am Pacific Time. That is for anyone who bought the Premium Edition, which Xbox lists at $99.99 against $69.99 for the standard version. Everyone else, including Game Pass subscribers, gets in on October 6 at the same time.
Start the download now
Pre-installation opened on September 29 at 8am Pacific across Xbox Series X|S, the Microsoft Store on PC and Steam, so there is no reason to wait until Thursday morning to start pulling it down.
Gold, and on Game Pass day one
The Coalition announced on September 17 that E-Day had gone gold, describing it as "a major milestone for the team as we enter the final stretch toward launch," and said it had continued working on PC stability and performance across a range of hardware in the run-up. The game is a day-one Game Pass title on both Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from October 6.
E-Day is a prequel rather than a continuation of Gears 5, set 14 years before the first game and following younger versions of Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago through Emergence Day itself.
One wrinkle for anyone buying the boxed collector's version: The Coalition has separately acknowledged that some Collector's Editions arrived with damaged statues, and is routing affected buyers back through their retailers.
Why it matters
E-Day is Microsoft's biggest first-party release of the autumn, and the practical details - when you can play, what you need to download and whether Game Pass covers it - decide how most people will actually get to it.