The one that keeps coming up
Playing it
When exactly can I play?
Now: it launched worldwide on 6 October 2026 at 8am Pacific, 15:00 UTC. Premium and Collector's edition owners have played since 1 October.
Is it on Game Pass?
Yes, from 6 October with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. The 1 October early access was tied to the Premium Edition, not to Game Pass.
Do I need Game Pass to play online?
On the Xbox store listing, yes: online campaign co-op, Horde Siege and Versus require a Game Pass subscription that includes online multiplayer — Essential, Premium or Ultimate — sold separately. Solo campaign and split-screen are not covered by that condition.
What do the editions cost?
Standard $69.99, Premium $99.99, a $30 Premium Upgrade for Standard owners, and the physical Collector's Edition at $299.99 from the Xbox Game Studios shop. United States prices; in Spain the first three are 69.99, 99.99 and 30 euros.
How long is the campaign?
Five acts and 26 chapters, with a Prologue and an Epilogue. About 14 hours played straight; 18 to 20 going for everything, by the first reviews; one review counted more than 20.
How many acts does the campaign have?
Five, with 4, 5, 6, 6 and 5 chapters, plus a Prologue before Act 1 and an Epilogue after Act 5: 28 sections.
Can I replay chapters?
Yes. Chapter select replays any section you have reached, which is how you go back for a collectible, Hard Case or secondary objective you missed.
Is anything permanently missable?
Not by any guide we read: chapter select brings everything back. Points of no return inside a chapter can still cost you a replay; see Missables.
Can I play the campaign in co-op?
Yes: two-player split-screen on Xbox, from one copy, or up to four players online, each with their own copy or Game Pass. Each player picks their own difficulty, and all four Bravo Squad members are playable from the start.
What difficulty levels does the campaign have?
Four: Casual, Normal, Hardcore and Insane, per The Coalition's creative director Matt Searcy (29 September). The game starts on Normal, but the studio says it is meant to be played on Hardcore. Co-op has split difficulty, so each player picks their own. The official achievement list rewards finishing the campaign on Insane. Horde Siege has its own: Infantry, Commander and Allfather in The Coalition's multiplayer post, with a Rookie tier below Infantry in Game8's guide.
Do I need Insane for the achievements?
For three: Today We Are Canceling the Apocalypse, For Whom The Bell Tolls and Dead Serious. The story achievements need no difficulty.
How many achievements are there?
Xbox Wire's official list has 54 worth 1,000G, plus a 0G one for earning them all: 55, as PowerPyx and TechWiser count; Whisper of the House and Gamers Beacon say the 0G one is on Steam only. Game8 counts 54, games.gg and Insider Gaming 53.
Is it a sequel or a prequel?
A prequel, set fourteen years before the original Gears of War, on the day the Locust first come up out of Sera. It is the sixth mainline entry.
Do I need to have played the other games?
No. It is a prequel set fourteen years before the first game, in one city and with one squad, and it introduces each Locust as Marcus and Dom first meet it.
What happened to the roadie run?
Sprint is on a left stick click, with Y for jump and vault and A for cover. Each sprint opens with a hunched nod to the roadie run, The Coalition says. It was the most argued-over change in the beta.
Was there a beta, and can I still play it?
It ran two weekends in August 2026 — 6 to 10 August for pre-orders and Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass members, then 13 to 17 August for everyone — and it is over. It was multiplayer only: Horde Siege and 4v4 Versus.
Did my beta progress carry over?
Challenge rewards did — character skins, weapon skin sets, banners, emblems and icons. Class progression, Player Level and medal progress were reset (gearsofwar.com's beta FAQ).
Is there a battle pass?
The Coalition says no: no battle pass, no tour of duty, and no shop exclusives, with nearly every cosmetic earnable by playing. Iron is an optional paid currency, and the named purchase-only exceptions are Premium Edition content, charity bundles and partnership items.
What does my PC need?
At minimum, per the 17 September sheet: a Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i5-10400 class CPU, an RTX 2060 or RX 6600 class GPU, 12 GB of RAM and 115 GB of SSD space, at 1080p 60fps on Medium with upscaling on. Ray tracing is mandatory — cards without hardware ray tracing are not supported at all.
How big is it?
115 GB on PC. No console install size has been published.
What frame rate does it run at on console?
Xbox's own pages say 4K and up to 60fps across campaign and multiplayer. Wikipedia and GamingBolt report 60fps in campaign with ray tracing and up to 120fps in multiplayer, and Press Start's preview mentions a 40fps balanced mode; Vandal's review, played on Xbox Series X, lists 60, 40 and 30fps campaign modes. The accounts do not agree and nothing we read settles it.
What accessibility options does it have?
We found no accessibility feature list published for this game, so none is quoted here. This is a gap in the sources, not a statement that the game lacks them.
Who is making it?
The Coalition, published by Xbox Game Studios, with People Can Fly as co-development partner since January 2025. People Can Fly led Gears of War: Judgment and co-developed the first three games.
Is there campaign DLC planned?
Nothing has been announced. The published post-launch plan is themed multiplayer seasons: Season 1: Emergence began with early access on 1 October and runs to 1 December, followed by Legacy, Infiltration, Pendulum and Devotion.