Gears of War: E-Day PC Requirements, Game Pass Launch and October 2026 Games

Why October is crowded​

Ara says September was already heavy and October keeps the pace. It puts that down to Grand Theft Auto VI, which it says lands on November 19 and is pushing publishers to cram their releases into the weeks before it. Rockstar's official site does give November 19, 2026, and lists PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The idea that GTA VI is shaping everyone else's schedule is Ara's reading of the industry, though. No publisher has said so. It's a plausible theory, but it isn't a confirmed fact.

Section summary: The November 19 date for GTA VI is official. The claim that it's squeezing October is commentary.

Gears of War: E-Day — the Windows and Xbox details​

Ara calls E-Day Microsoft's bid to revive a flagship series with a darker prequel about the first days of the Locust invasion, told through a young Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Microsoft's own materials fill in the rest.

• Launch and platforms: The Xbox product page gives October 6, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S and Windows 10/11, sold through the Microsoft Store and Steam. It's included from day one with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
• Xbox Play Anywhere: You buy it once and play on both console and PC, with shared progress and achievements.
• Setting: The Coalition developed it and Xbox Game Studios publishes it. It takes place 14 years before the original Gears of War, in a city called Kalona. Xbox Wire says the campaign covers three days.
• Co-op limits: You can play the campaign solo, in two-player split-screen, or online with up to four players. Split-screen is console-only. Online co-op, Horde Siege and Versus all need a Game Pass subscription that includes online multiplayer.
• Multiplayer: Ara only mentions "new online modes." Xbox Wire is more specific. Horde Siege is a 12-player PvE mode where three squads defend Kalona on larger city maps. Versus brings back 4v4 PvP on new maps.
• Editions (US listing): Standard costs $69.99 and Premium $99.99. There's also a $30 upgrade from Standard to Premium. Premium adds up to five days of early access starting October 1, the Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack, five seasonal customization packs and 1,000 Iron, an in-game currency. Prices vary by region and store.

There's one conflict on early access. Notebookcheck reported that Game Pass members and those who have pre-orders will be able to play earlier on October 1, while the rest of the public will be able to start playing on October 6. Microsoft's own FAQ only ties the October 1 start to the Premium Edition. Until Microsoft says otherwise, go by the official page. On pre-loading, Notebookcheck says pre-installs will start on September 29 via Xbox on PC or Steam.

Will your PC run it?​

The biggest practical point for PC players: you need a graphics card with hardware ray tracing. PC Gamer quotes The Coalition's requirements table directly: "A hardware ray tracing capable graphics card is required." The PCGamingWiki entry agrees and adds that a 64-bit operating system is required.

Here are the published tiers as DSOGaming reported them:

Sources: DSOGaming, DSOGaming (1440p tier) and PC Gamer (4K tier).

AltChar says every tier needs 115GB of SSD Storage. An earlier Dot Esports guide from June gave 130GB. The newer 115GB figure from multiple outlets looks like the current one, but leave yourself some room for patches either way. For upscaling, KitGuru lists DLSS 4.5, FSR 4 and XeSS 3.0, alongside HDR, ultrawide monitors, and a built‑in benchmark mode. AltChar listed DLSS 5 instead, while Notebookcheck says there's no DLSS 5 support for now, so the exact DLSS version is still unsettled. PCGamingWiki also says Nvidia v610.74 appears to be the minimum required driver. Treat that as a community finding, not an official requirement.

For a quick pre-launch check, based on those requirements:

• Confirm your GPU has hardware ray tracing. GTX-class Nvidia cards and older non-RT Radeons won't work.
• Update your GPU driver before you start the download.
• Free up at least 115GB on an SSD.
• Run the built-in benchmark before you touch the Ultra presets.

Section summary: E-Day is the most Windows-relevant release of the month. It's on PC Game Pass from day one, but it needs a ray-tracing GPU, and split-screen co-op stays on the console.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse — one correction​

Ara calls this Konami's first major 2D Castlevania in almost two decades. Konami's June 8 announcement gives October 15, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Steam. The story is set in Paris in 1499, 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, and follows Rose Belmont, Trevor Belmont's daughter, who uses the Vampire Killer whip.

Two things need correcting:

• The Dead Cells connection: Konami says the game was developed jointly by Konami and Evil Empire, with Motion Twin acting in an "advisory capacity." Motion Twin made Dead Cells. Evil Empire handled its later updates and DLC. So "made with the Dead Cells team" is roughly right, but Evil Empire did the development work.
• Switch 2: Ara lists Switch 2 on October 15. Konami says the Nintendo Switch release and pre-order dates will be announced later. Don't expect a Nintendo release on launch day.

The rest of Ara's top ten​

These entries come from Ara's roundup. Only Ace Combat 8's date was checked here against an official source.

• Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve (Oct 2; PC, PS5, Xbox Series): Bandai Namco confirms October 2 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam. Deluxe Edition owners got early access on September 29. Bandai Namco also calls it the first mainline entry in seven years. Ara highlights a more story-driven approach, the series' longest campaign and expanded multiplayer.
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer (Oct 6; PC, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series): A racer from Fuse Games with adventure elements. Ara says it has a roguelite single-player campaign and 12-pilot online races.
• Order of the Sinking Star (Oct 8; PC, Switch 2, PS5): A puzzle adventure from Jonathan Blow, maker of Braid and The Witness. Ara says it has four linked realms and more than a thousand puzzles.
• Final Fantasy Resonance (Oct 22; PC, Switch 2, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series): Ara describes Square Enix's first fully HD-2D Final Fantasy, with turn-based combat and heroes you can summon from earlier games.
• Nintendo Switch Sports Resort (Oct 22; Switch 2): A Switch 2 exclusive. Ara reports up to twelve sports, skateboarding among them.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (Oct 23; PC, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series): Ara reports it drops last-gen consoles and brings the series back to a Nintendo platform after more than a decade. Microsoft owns the franchise, so this matters for Xbox players, but none of these claims were checked against an official source here.
• Virtue and a Sledgehammer (Oct 27; PC): A narrative game from Valencian studio Deconstructeam, published by Devolver Digital.
• Phantom Blade Zero (Oct 29; PC, PS5): A martial-arts action game set in a dark Chinese fantasy world. Ara lists no Xbox version.

Extras: expansions, ports and smaller releases​

Ara also lists these. None were checked separately here.

• Expansions and editions: Ghost of Yōtei: Complete Edition (Oct 1), Dragon's Dogma II: Dark Arisen (Oct 8, also coming to Switch 2), Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] (Oct 8), and Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown (Oct 29).
• Switch 2 ports: Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 (Oct 16, with physical copies on January 29), Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (Oct 6), Hell Is Us (Oct 8), It Takes Two (Oct 15) and Minecraft (Oct 27). Minecraft is a Microsoft title, so Mojang's game landing on another platform holder's hardware is worth noting.
• Indies and horror: End of Abyss (Oct 1), Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival (Oct 8), Valor Mortis from the Ghostrunner studio One More Level (Oct 13), Stupid Never Dies (Oct 21) and Finji's Usual June (Oct 28).
• Remasters and classics: Rayman Legends Retold (Oct 1), Ratatan (Oct 15) and The Wolf Among Us Remastered (Oct 30).

Bottom line for Windows players​

Most of Ara's list comes to PC. For Microsoft's platforms, what matters most is E-Day on PC Game Pass from day one, Castlevania on Xbox on PC alongside Steam, and two Microsoft-owned series, Call of Duty and Minecraft, showing up on Nintendo hardware. It's a reminder of how multiplatform Microsoft's publishing has become.

Before October 6, check your GPU for ray tracing, clear some SSD space, and ignore any Switch 2 date for Castlevania until Konami confirms one.

Update: Additional details (September 30, 2026)​

TechJuice reports that preloading now lists a 120.04GB SSD requirement for the PC version and 120.5GB on Xbox Series X|S, rather than the earlier 115GB figure cited in reports. Players should therefore plan for roughly 121GB of free space before installation, plus extra room for launch patches.

The report also says preloads support modular installs: Campaign, Horde Siege and Versus can be selected separately through the Xbox app on Windows or Xbox console settings. That could let players avoid downloading modes they do not intend to use initially.

Update: E-Day’s Standard Edition and Game Pass unlock time reported (October 5, 2026)​

Gears of War: E-Day’s wider release is scheduled for 9 a.m. PDT / noon EDT on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, according to Destructoid’s October 5 countdown guide. The outlet reports that the same unlock time applies to Standard Edition owners and Game Pass players on PC and consoles. Its listed international equivalents are 4 p.m. UTC, 5 p.m. BST and 6 p.m. CEST.

The practical addition is an exact hour, rather than a change to the previously announced October 6 launch date. For Windows players planning their first session, Destructoid’s schedule points to a daytime US launch—not access at midnight as October 6 begins. Treat that timing as outlet-reported, rather than a newly confirmed Microsoft announcement.

Destructoid also reports that early access is already underway. Its countdown places ordinary Game Pass access alongside the Standard Edition release, rather than within that early-access window. That distinction matters for subscribers who have been waiting for the wider launch without purchasing the Premium Edition.

Update: Day-one patch reportedly addresses campaign and multiplayer blockers (October 5, 2026)​

Gears of War: E-Day has reportedly received its first update ahead of the October 6 launch, according to MP1st’s October 5 report. The outlet reproduces a changelog covering stability, performance and hardware compatibility improvements, alongside fixes for campaign progression and online modes. It does not specify a patch size or build number.

For campaign players, MP1st reports fixes for objectives failing to advance or start in several chapters, including one cause of a defense objective remaining incomplete after all visible enemies were defeated. Joining an ongoing campaign should also have fewer progression problems: the listed changes address both missing discovery credit and players incorrectly receiving journal progress and rewards earned before they joined.

Multiplayer fixes reportedly include Versus Social matches getting stuck on “Waiting for players,” incomplete Horde Siege objectives, a missing extraction helicopter and a Demolition bomb becoming stuck during defusal. MP1st also lists improved Xbox authentication handling when the system clock is substantially incorrect.

For Windows players preparing for launch, the practical step is to check for game updates even if the preload is already installed. These reported fixes address potential session and progression blockers, but the changelog does not quantify performance gains or establish that every affected scenario is resolved.

Update: Microsoft confirms Gears of War: E-Day is now live worldwide (October 6, 2026)​

Microsoft’s Xbox Wire has confirmed that Gears of War: E-Day is now available worldwide on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Game Pass and Steam. That official launch confirmation supersedes the earlier outlet-reported unlock schedule.

The launch guide also confirms campaign exploration goes beyond a strictly linear route in some areas: Kalona includes optional side missions that support other squads or civilians, with rewards such as weapon mods. Players can also find collectibles, signaled by an audio chime when entering an area.

For Windows players, Microsoft reiterates Xbox Play Anywhere support, allowing eligible owners to play across Xbox console and PC without an additional purchase.