Microsoft Reverses Course on Gears of War: E-Day Beta Following Fan Pushback
Early access beta begins Aug. 6 with PvP restored following fan feedback.
Microsoft Corp. has adjusted its rollout plan for the upcoming video game Gears of War: E-Day following fan protests, adding competitive multiplayer to an early access beta set to launch Aug. 6.
The company confirmed that the early access phase, running through Aug. 10, will now feature the 4v4 Versus competitive mode alongside the Horde Siege player-versus-environment mode. Microsoft had originally excluded player-versus-player combat from early access testing, prompting pushback from players before reversing its stance. A broader open beta will follow from Aug. 13 to Aug. 17.
Early access access is limited to players who pre-ordered the game on Xbox or Valve Corp.’s Steam platform, as well as active subscribers to Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Content across both the early access window and the public open beta will be identical.
Alongside the schedule, Microsoft released hardware specifications for PC players participating in the beta, cautioning that final release requirements could change. Achieving recommended settings at 1440p resolution and 60 frames per second on high presets with upscaling technology requires an Intel Core i5-11600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor, 16 gigabytes of memory, and graphics processing units such as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 5060, AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, or RX 9060 XT.
Minimum requirements targeting 1080p at 60 frames per second on medium presets require 12 gigabytes of memory paired with an Intel Core i5-10400, i7-6850K, or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X CPU, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, RTX 5050, AMD Radeon RX 6600, or RX 9060 GPUs. Both tiers require an SSD with at least 80 gigabytes of available storage and Windows 10 or 11 version 22H2 or newer.
Scheduled to launch on Oct. 6 for Windows PC and Xbox Series X|S, Gears of War: E-Day serves as the sixth mainline installment in the third-person shooter franchise. Set as a prequel to the original 2006 title, the storyline follows series protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago during the initial Locust Horde invasion on the planet Sera.
