Gears of War: E-Day System Requirements and Recommended Specs

After six long years, we’re finally getting a new Gears of War game. As usual for long-running franchises, they’ve decided to make this one a prequel, taking place during “E-Day” which is when the apocalypse that took place 14 years before the events of the first game happened.

This franchise was a system seller for the original Xbox and became one of Microsoft’s biggest Ips, so we’re sure people are going to be keen, however, it also has some of the most demanding system requirements we’ve seen.

• OS: Windows 11 64bit (25H2) or newer
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 / Intel i5-11600K
• RAM: 16 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060ti / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT / Radeon RX 9060 XT / Intel B580
• Available Storage: 130 GB

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit 22H 19045.7291
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X / Intel i7‑6850K / i5‑10400
• RAM: 12 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 6600 / Radeon RX 9060 / Intel A580
• Available Storage: 130 GB

There’s a lot to go through here, and it’s a little confusing because for the recommended specs for example, they call for an RTX 5060 or an RTX 3060ti, which are two GPUs of very different capabilities. However, the Steam page for Gears of War: E-Day mentions HDR 10, ray tracing, 4K, 60 FPS, and support for 21:9 and 32:9 displays. So, you probably only need a 5060 if you want to get all of that.

If you are a true Gears of War fan, then we’d recommend a GPU upgrade to the 50 series specifically, as there’s a lot of mentions of DLSS in the marketing materials.

Additionally, the game will take up 130 GB, which is massive, so considering a new SSD might help, otherwise be prepared to delete some old stuff to make room for this gigantic game.

The Gears of War games were essentially the beginning of the now classic cover-based third person shooter genre, and this one looks very similar in that regard. However, the original games were very restrictive in movement (especially compared to modern shooters,) but Gears of War: E-Day looks much more fluid, with the imagery showing something approximating what looks like the middle ground between Gears of War and Uncharted, with a sliding mechanic that looks fun but is probably contextual.

The increase in movement speed is certainly warranted, as anyone who played the recent and faithful remake of the original will have realized that the original games are outrageously slow by today’s standards, as movement in game design has come a long way.

Interestingly, and rarely for games today, the entire campaign can be played with up to four players in co-op, in addition to co-op PvE and regular PvP modes. Anyone with memories of playing the older Gears of War games on Xbox Live will be overwhelmed with nostalgia at the thought.