Gears of War: E-Day Tops 20,000 Concurrent Players on Steam Early Access — Best Series Launch Ever

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The story

The Steam version of “Gears of War: E-Day,” the new title from Microsoft’s Xbox studios, has launched into early access and surpassed 20,000 concurrent players, marking the best start in the series’ history. The game has no PS5 version and is Xbox/PC exclusive only, but its strong Steam debut became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. At the same time, some pointed out that the numbers look weak compared to the early-access scale once hit by “Starfield,” a title that posted huge results as an Xbox exclusive — and once counterarguments noting that Game Pass players aren’t included in the Steam count entered the mix, opinion split over how to read the figures.

What people said

2AnonymousOct 3, 2026 03:59
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTpRUGYW0AAEqyK.jpg
https://x.com/IdleSloth84_/status/2106089581955436908
5AnonymousOct 3, 2026 03:59
My bad for selling well on Steam too, I guess
10AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:00
Too bad you can't even play it on PS5 lmaooooo
13AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:00
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA lmaooooooo
16AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:01
If you've got Game Pass you just buy the early-access bundle, duh
17AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:02
Isn't 20,000 concurrent insane when that doesn't even include Game Pass players?
25AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:13
Re: #1
Apparently it's lower than the Halo campaign numbers
26AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:14
Starfield early access: 230,000 (#11 in US annual sales) ← the best record for an Xbox exclusive in the past 10 years

Gears E-Day early access: 20,000

Flop confirmed.
29AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:18
Re: #26
Yep, and it's selling through Game Pass and downloads too
Not like those sketchy estimated numbers Resident Evil throws around, right?
36AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:46
Hey, breaking news just hit the new thread Re: #1
The Japan PS5 version is totally dead now lol
https://x.com/IdleSloth84_/status/2106103518562287674
@IdleSloth84_
·
18m
Translated from English
Grand Theft Auto 6's PEGI rating has been published, revealing new details

• Certain weapons can inflict greater damage, including detailed decapitations and dismemberment.
• Cocaine can be snorted
• Drugs can be used during gameplay
• Sex scenes
• "Occasional" sexual fetish scenes
• Payment of a private dancer who can move her hands around a stripper

PEGI:
40AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:49
Re: #36
Hey, stop, delete that
49AnonymousOct 3, 2026 06:14
Re: #36
Wolverine already proved stuff like this can get through Japan's CERO rating, so with a few edits (let's be honest, mostly the sex scenes) it'll pass fine
41AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:54
Nobody wants some COD-ified Gears spinoff
Just hurry up and make Gears 6 already
56AnonymousOct 3, 2026 07:17
Re: #41
Honestly, for me 4 and 5 are the spinoffs, since Marcus wasn't even the main character in those
88AnonymousOct 3, 2026 12:24
Re: #41
That's your takeaway after playing 4 and 5?
42AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:57
This is just a title for the cost-cutting demon (Microsoft's efficiency-obsessed brass) to measure how little the trash-can faithful (a derogatory nickname for Xbox fans, after the console's boxy shape) actually spend, so there's probably no sequel coming
43AnonymousOct 3, 2026 04:59
Re: #42
Gears makes most of its money off in-game skins and microtransactions, so it actually rakes in plenty?
Gears 5 was already stuffed with paid skins
45AnonymousOct 3, 2026 05:02
Gears is this weird game where, somehow, Mexico got pushed so hard that there are now more Mexican players than American ones
86AnonymousOct 3, 2026 11:53
Re: #45
That's because Mexico is, for some reason, a huge Xbox market
51AnonymousOct 3, 2026 06:25
Even the trash-can crowd's knowledge of Gears stops at the "Plan B" jokes from the first game — nobody's actually playing it
so maybe just make a thread for bashing Sony directly instead
53AnonymousOct 3, 2026 06:29
Re: #51
Mad much? lol
63AnonymousOct 3, 2026 08:12
I bought the premium upgrade for FH6, but I'm just not feeling it for Gears.
The beta was pretty average too, and the graphics looked like stuff we've already seen.
65AnonymousOct 3, 2026 08:33
Re: #63
Even stacked against PlayStation games, the graphics are the best the series has ever looked
66AnonymousOct 3, 2026 08:46
I only want to play the campaign and don't do multiplayer, so I haven't bought the premium upgrade
73AnonymousOct 3, 2026 09:26
Re: #66
Same here
I'm bad at multiplayer so I'm looking forward to the campaign
the story's always been good
67AnonymousOct 3, 2026 08:57
With QSSR (a cross-platform resolution-scaling feature being discussed in the thread), every game on the crappy Xbox (a derisive nickname for the console) is already a downgraded version anyway
69AnonymousOct 3, 2026 09:10
Re: #67
Nothing beats pure, unadulterated 12 teraflops
76AnonymousOct 3, 2026 09:36
Re: #67
You mean that QSSR thing where the feature's been live since yesterday on Wolverine and Yotei, but not a single third party has agreed to support it yet?
78AnonymousOct 3, 2026 09:45
Re: #76
There's no way they could build and ship an update like that in just a day or two, are you dumb?
81AnonymousOct 3, 2026 10:15
Re: #78
Nobody's going to go along with "we made the official announcement, so third parties, support it starting now"

Unless, like Xbox's disc-to-digital program, they actually verify every compatible title before making the official announcement
85AnonymousOct 3, 2026 11:44
Came back to PC Game Pass after a long break
Looks like PC Game Pass starts on the 7th
90AnonymousOct 3, 2026 12:51
It's the #1 top seller in the US
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTqI-jLa0AAvVJr.jpg
https://x.com/aarongreenberg/status/2106146386224005437
94AnonymousOct 3, 2026 12:57
Even if they make a 6, which route from 5 is canon?
96AnonymousOct 3, 2026 13:04
Re: #94
Nah, JD's annoying, right? lol
Is there anyone who actually likes that guy?
95AnonymousOct 3, 2026 13:03
None of my friends are playing it, yet it's selling?
Steam sure is something
101AnonymousOct 3, 2026 13:16
The fight against the Locust for humanity's survival was already wrapped up in 3 — the real mistake was deciding to write a sequel after that

Background and Key Points of This Topic

The Gears of War series has long been developed as an Xbox-centric IP, and it’s worth noting upfront that this latest entry, “E-Day,” has no PS5 version and is positioned as an Xbox/PC (including Steam) exclusive. Early access refers to giving a subset of players advance access before the official launch, and Steam’s concurrent-player count only reflects people playing through Steam specifically. The 230,000 early-access figure for “Starfield” raised for comparison in the thread is cited as a benchmark representing the largest scale ever for an Xbox-exclusive title, and opinions split over whether this time’s 20,000 looks weak by comparison. That said, this title is also being offered simultaneously on Microsoft’s subscription service Game Pass, and players who access it via Game Pass aren’t reflected in the Steam concurrent count. The thread repeatedly raised this distinction, and it’s worth noting for readers that several posters argued it’s premature to judge the overall level of excitement from the Steam figure alone.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board thread “[Bad News for PS Fans] Gears of War: E-Day Steam Version Tops 20,000 Concurrent Players Even in Early Access, Marking Its Best-Ever Start lol.”

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