Acclaimed gaming journalist Destin Legarie recently spoke with the developers of Gears of War: E-Day about behind-the-scenes development, story elements, audience expectations, and more.
During this conversation, Destin asked the developers how they felt about Gears of War: E-Day being an Xbox console exclusive title.
The developers responded by saying that they were "proud" to be one of Xbox's pillar titles, "We feel great that they feel great because Gears is like part of Xbox's DNA. It's woven into it. And at The Coalition, we feel honored to have Gears and be the ones bringing that legacy forward."
The developers mentioned they know Xbox means so much to a lot of people and that they're proud to be one of Xbox's main console-exclusive titles, filling that role again with Gears of War: E-Day.
RELATED: Gears of War: E-Day review
Of course, this isn't full exclusivity, as the game is still available on Steam for PC, as has been tradition for Xbox for many years now. As of writing, Gears of War: E-Day has achieved its highest franchise concurrency figures on Steam at around 20,000 users in the early access period, and has become the top-selling Steam game in the United States ahead of its official October 6, 2026 launch. The game is also of course available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, where I suspect many will be opting to play over an out-right purchase.
Will Xbox exclusivity pay off for Gears of War: E-Day?
Personally, while I prefer games being available on any platform (especially these days when people can't afford to buy every console at once), I can't deny the power exclusivity brings to a console and a game series' brand.
For example, I bought a Nintendo Switch many years ago just to play Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, simply because I knew it wasn't going to be made available on any other console.
So I'm guessing at least some will have the same sentiment for Gears of War: E-Day, which will ultimately be beneficial for Xbox in the long run. Having exclusives will give Xbox its own unique identity and entice console players to play their games not found anywhere else (besides Windows PC, which is also a part of the Xbox ecosystem).
But this is all speculation on my end. Only time will tell if this console-exclusivity strategy pays off financially for Gears of War: E-Day when it leaves early access and launches for the general public on October 6, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Windows PC (all with Xbox Play Anywhere support).
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