Gears of War: E-Day was a no show at The Game Awards, but The Coalition made sure to reiterate the prequel is still coming in 2026

Gears of War: E-Day is still on track to launch in 2026, despite the game's absence from The Game Awards 2025, developer The Coalition has confirmed.

Sometimes, when a big game that's due out the following year skips The Game Awards, it can signal turbulence behind the scenes and, even more occasionally, be a sign of an impending delay. But The Coalition apparently didn't want any misunderstandings about its silence on the Gears of War: E-Day last night. 2026 is still the release window, although we're still waiting for it to be narrowed down to a specific date, or hell, season.

"Emergence Begins. 2026," reads a tweet from the official Gears of War Twitter account, sent out smack dab in the middle of the awards show.

Never mind The Game Awards, The Coalition and Xbox have been fairly quiet in general about E-Day since it was announced, so it's encouraging to hear it's still due out in 2026.

The game takes place 14 years before the events of the original Gears of War and centers around younger versions of Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago, with original actor John DiMaggio and Carlos Ferro reprising their roles. The story is set during Emergence Day, in which the Locust Horde carries out a strategic planet-wide assault on Sera, kicking off the Locust War fans of the series are well-familiar with. It was announced in 2024 and was heavily rumored to release this year, but Xbox soon after confirmed the 2026 window, which has yet to change.

In the meantime, here are the best Xbox Series X games you can play right now.